A woman in Kursk region in southern Russia has paid a ransom to free her son from frauds posing as policemen – forgetting she never had male offspring.
The 54-year-old woman, whose name was withheld, was awoken at night by a call from an alleged traffic policeman informing her that her son was responsible for a large-scale road incident, police said on Tuesday.
She was told the matter could be settled for a bribe, and rushed off to transfer a total of 54,000 rubles ($1,600) to three telephone numbers via a payment terminal, the report said.
Only after completing the transfer did she realize she never had a son, police said. It remained unclear whether the woman had any daughters.
Such scams are widespread throughout the country, but it is unusual for a victim to be conned so completely, a police spokeswoman said. A case has been opened.
