The police and prosecutors in Balti have uncovered a criminal group of three men specialized in scams. They managed, through deception and breach of trust, to appropriate over 222,000 lei from a 48-year-old man from Balti, IPN reports.

The victim notified the police after he was contacted by phone by unknown persons who told him that loans from various financial institutions had been raised in his name. In order to "clear” these fictitious loans, the man was asked to transfer money to a bank account indicated by the scammers.

As a result of measures taken by the police, the suspects were identified and detained. At one of them, the police officers found an amount of 50,000 lei. The three were placed under arrest for 72 hours, and a criminal case for fraud was initiated on this case. Under the legislation, persons guilty of such crimes face up to 5 years in prison.

The police urge the citizens to be cautious and not to give money or personal data to unknown citizens.