Residents of Bashkortostan warned about new scam

A new type of fraud is spreading in the country. Scammers have responded to the increase in utility rates and invented a scheme to "return" overpayments for heating, the Russian Ministry of Construction warned.

The criminals call victims, pretending to be from their management company, and offer them the chance to supposedly get back money paid in excess for heating. They ask the victim to follow a link and enter personal or banking information on the opened page.

The ministry reminded that overpayments are not returned directly to consumers — instead, the next utility payments are reduced by that amount. They also urged people to inform elderly relatives, who are often very trusting.