Million-dollar scam by Afghan girl "named Arezo" posing as UN employee in Tehran

Detective Colonel Hossein Zare, head of the 9th base of the Greater Tehran Police, said about the scam method: "In June of this year, a number of Afghan nationals sought help from officers of the 175th police station in Baghershahr. All the complainants who sought help from the police spoke of a young woman who had promised them that they could immigrate to European countries by filing a case with the UN office."

Detectives from the 9th Tehran Police Station first asked the complainants to provide the investigation team with the physical characteristics of the young woman who had defrauded them.

According to Khabar Online and based on a report from the Greater Tehran Police Information Center, one of the victims said: "The young Afghan woman was named Arezo. She told me that she could file a case for me at the UN office so that I could immigrate to a European country, and that this possibility is only available to Afghan citizens."

This person also explained: "The young lady told me that I had to pay a total of 12 million Tomans, and that I needed to pay 2 million Tomans to file the initial case."

Another of Arezo's accusers also told detectives: "Arzo took this amount from me on the pretext that 2 million Tomans had to be paid as an advance payment by the immigration applicant for each case to be reviewed. After a while, when I was pursuing my work, he told me that I had to deposit another amount. In total, he took 12 million Tomans from me."

The missing person told detectives: "After a few days of going to the UN office to follow up on my legal immigration process, I realized that there is no such process for legal immigration of Afghan nationals to other countries."

But that wasn't the young woman's only scam. Another of Asra's tricks was promising job opportunities at the United Nations office to the victims. Detectives discovered this scam when they tried to trace the account where the money was deposited.

Detective Colonel Hossein Zare also said in this regard: "By examining the financial transactions of the money deposited by the victims, the detectives learned that the money deposited was entirely deposited into the account of a woman named Roqiyah."

When the police were able to identify Ruqayyah in Baqirshahr, they realized that she was a relative of Arzoo, and that he, too, had thought that she was working for the United Nations, based on one of the young woman's promises.

After appearing at the 9th base of the Greater Tehran Intelligence Police, Roqiyah told detectives: "Arzoo promised me employment at the United Nations office and, using this trick, said that in order to be hired, I would first need to complete a course to learn the job (internship).

Ruqayya also explained: "We used to go to the homes of Afghan refugees with Arzoo to file cases, and he would introduce me as his colleague at the UN office; he would deposit the money received from people into my ATM account, and now he has also fled; in fact, he has deceived me as well."

Colonel Zare also addressed Afghan citizens and nationals, saying: "In continuation of the investigation of the case and in order to identify the hiding place and arrest the accused, an order has been issued by the respected judicial authority to publish the accused's photo without covering it. Therefore, all respected citizens who have succeeded in identifying the accused's photo and have information about his hiding place or places of movement are requested to provide any information they have in this regard to the detectives of the 9th base of the Greater Tehran Police through the contact number 73948277."

Source: Ahya News