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A British blogger travelling in Russia lost GBP 500 after fraudsters gained access to his account using a fake travel app he downloaded while he was staying in a popular destination city.
The 25-year-old traveller, named as Will Eggerton from Bristol, England, was in the Siberian city of Irkutsk in mid-August when the incident happened.
He has 700,000 followers on TikTok, where he shares his journey around Russia in Russian, a language he has been studying for seven years.
Will had travelled from Buryatia, where he tried the local dish buuz - a type of steamed dumping - back to Irkutsk in an attempt to save money.
While staying at a hotel, he tried to book a ride to Krasnoyarsk using a travel companion app.
He said the driver cancelled the booking and then sent him a form to claim his refund.
Will said the form was fake and that instead of returning his money, the fake driver withdrew RUB 53,000 (GBP 490).
On the advice of a bank employee, he went to the police to file a complaint and said it was his first time visiting a Ministry of Internal Affairs department.
The young woman who took his statement at the Irkutsk police station turned out to be one of his followers and already knew about his travels.
Many Russians expressed shock that he had been defrauded in their country. His subscribers flooded him with messages offering to buy him lunch, send him money, or cover his hotel costs.
Will told his followers about the experience, joking that he would need to eat instant noodles for seven years to pay off his losses.
Police in Irkutsk confirmed that phishing is one of the most common forms of internet fraud and advised travellers to check website details on platforms such as www.reg.ru before entering personal data.
(Mike Leidig / newsX)
Byline Journalist: Mike Leidig
Byline Sub editor: Simona Kitanovska
Byline Spotter: Aloysius Fernandes
Byline Commisioning Editor: Aloysius Fernandes
Byline Senior Writer: Mike Leidig
Byline Picture Editor: Zorica Stojkovik
Byline Copychecker: Simona Kitanovska
Byline Illustrator: Simona Kitanovska
Byline News Editor: Mike Leidig
Geography: Irkutsk
Subject: Legal, Crime, Fraud, Robbery, Lifestyle/leisure, Holidays/travel, People, Social Media Celebs
T4 Editor Story Rating: 7
T4 Editor Pic/Vid rating: 7
T4 Total rating: 7
