Sample application to the prosecutor's office regarding fraud, how to correctly write a complaint against a fraudster and get your money back

From time immemorial, there have been people who dream of taking possession of other people's property in an easy way, by gaining the trust of the victim or by deceiving him. In legal language, such actions are called fraud.

And in order for affected citizens and legal entities to protect their rights, in many cases it is necessary to write a statement to the prosecutor’s office about fraud.

To ensure the legal literacy of the common man, in this article we will talk about how to correctly write a statement to the prosecutor's office regarding fraud (it can be downloaded here), bring the swindler to criminal liability and get your money back. So.

When can and should you contact the prosecutor's office regarding fraud?

First of all, it should be understood that fraud as an offense has many manifestations. If you open the domestic Criminal Code, you can find as many as 6 articles in it, devoted to various forms of fraud.

We should also not forget that for minor offenses (within 1 thousand rubles) administrative liability arises, provided for in Art. 7.27 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

Most fraud cases are handled by the police. However, if fraud has occurred, contacting the prosecutor's office may also be advisable. Thus, a complaint should be filed with this authority when police officers refused to initiate a criminal case at the request of the injured party.

In addition, a statement to the prosecutor's office is written in the case when the subject of fraud is an official of an enterprise or institution. In all other cases, the prosecutor's office does not consider fraud, but transfers the materials to the police for further work with them.

Methodology for drawing up an appeal

It's not an easy job. After all, criminals often create cunning schemes that only a specialist can understand. Therefore, the victim, by virtue of the current legislation, finds himself in a dangerous situation:

• he must notify law enforcement officers about the crime;
• the facts stated in the application are verified;
• if they are not confirmed, then the accused has the opportunity to file a counterclaim for libel.

Important: the person who contacts the police is warned of liability for knowingly false denunciation (clause 6 of Article 141 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CCP) of the Russian Federation).
Article 141. Statement of a crime of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation

Citizens and business managers need to know that the Criminal Code has several articles related to fraud. They are shown in the table:

Article 159. Fraud of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Article 159.1. Fraud in the field of lending of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Article 159.2. Fraud in receiving payments under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Article 159.3. Fraud using payment cards of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Article 159.5. Fraud in the field of insurance of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Article 159.6. Fraud in the field of computer information of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Knowledge of the law will allow you to suspect and stop selfish deception in one of the listed areas. When drawing up an appeal to law enforcement officers, it is advisable to indicate not the paragraph number of the Criminal Code, but the branch of the relationship. This will make it easier for police to classify a crime.

Composition of the crime and participants

Generally, fraud refers to obtaining money or property through deception or breach of trust.

Transferring money using forged or knowingly false documents is also considered fraud. This type of crime is typical for the banking, insurance or social sectors.

Computer scammers are also common, using modern technologies to gain access to other people’s data and bank accounts.

Fraud consists of deliberate evasion of execution of contracts concluded between business representatives.

What distinguishes fraud from theft or robbery is that the victim voluntarily transfers property to the attackers.

Fraudsters can act either alone or in organized groups. The injured party is both citizens and enterprises (institutions). However, there may be several victims of fraud.

Fraud involving or in relation to individual entrepreneurs and commercial organizations

Until recently, the injured party had the right to file a complaint with the prosecutor's office about fraud by a legal entity. Criminal liability for enterprises was provided for in Article 159.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. However, this provision has now been excluded from the legislation.

Therefore, officials of organizations or individual entrepreneurs are responsible for fraud in the business environment. Depending on the crime, liability arises under Part 3 or 5 of Article 159.

However, it happens that the fact of illegal actions is difficult to prove. Therefore, prosecution is largely determined by a sufficient number of documents and testimony.

In addition, the participation of a criminal lawyer would also be useful. He knows first-hand how to properly protect the rights of the victim. .

Fraud involving or against an individual

In this case, an application to the prosecutor's office about fraud by an individual is submitted with reference to the relevant article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Therefore, it is advisable to study the rules of criminal law before writing a statement.

You can attach not only documents to your application, but also video footage, recordings of telephone conversations, and printouts from email. Basically any evidence you have.

Author of the document

• Email

Head of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation

Police Lieutenant Colonel P.P. Pronin

from citizen Petrov Petr Petrovich,

Procedure and terms for consideration of the application

Received materials are signed by the responsible employee of the prosecutor's office. He checks the correctness of the application and the presence of all required information in it.

Then there is a certain procedure for checking the information contained in the appeal. Depending on the specific case, the period for processing the application is from 3 to 10 days.

After this, the prosecutor's office issues a decision based on the results of consideration of the application. If the complaint of the victim of fraud is satisfied, then the resolution specifies a list of those actions (with deadlines) that must be carried out by the police.

Sample claim to bank

To send a claim to the bank, on the official resource of this financial institution, a special electronic form is attached - a sample. It must be filled out in accordance with the points of the form.

The sample complaint to the bank contains optimal columns for the most complete information and competent filing of the complaint. Not everyone knows how to correctly express their dissatisfaction, but the form is easy to fill out.

Any bank strives to improve its work and service in order to attract customers. For this reason, claims are processed promptly, and decisions are made, in most cases, in favor of the applicants, if the bank employees are indeed guilty.

If a criminal case has been opened, what next?

Let's assume that you, as the injured party, have succeeded in initiating criminal proceedings. However, one should also be active within it. First of all, it is necessary to cooperate with the investigation. In particular, you should come for interrogations and participate in other investigative actions (identification, confrontation, etc.).

The investigator also needs to immediately write a statement recognizing you as a victim and a private prosecutor. From this moment on, you have certain procedural rights.

To recover damages (material and moral) caused by fraud, a civil claim should be filed. It is not much different from the statement of claim prescribed in the Civil Procedure Code.

The only difference is that it is submitted to the investigator or court that will deal with the criminal case. In addition, more emphasis needs to be placed on the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The law does not allow the prosecutor to demand damages from fraudsters. For this purpose, it is possible to file a claim in court for compensation for damages from the crime committed.

Let us only add that filing a civil claim does not require payment of state duty. The decision on such an application is contained in the verdict of the court in the fraud case.

In what cases should you choose which body to complain to?

As a rule, online scammers operate under fictitious data . But there are times when you know your offender personally, or he doesn’t even try to hide and doesn’t deny what he did.

Court

If there is comprehensive evidence, you can file a claim through the court, bypassing other authorities. The court's decision will largely depend on the accuracy and literacy of the statement of claim. It is better to seek help from a lawyer; it will be difficult for a person without special education to take into account all the nuances.

Important: before going to court, try to resolve the dispute peacefully. Submit your claim by certified mail and keep a copy.

Another case when you need to go to court is fraud on the part of a legal entity (an organization or individual entrepreneur that owns an online store). It is necessary to send a written claim demanding to terminate the contract and return the funds in full. In case of refusal, within the framework of civil proceedings, you can file a claim in court for the protection of consumer rights. If the personal data of the attacker is not known, there is no confirmation of malicious intent, but you want to restore justice, law enforcement agencies will help.

Police

This body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs carries out the initial collection of evidence, identifying the attacker, detaining him and initiating a case. You can file a police report at the police station at your place of residence or at any office convenient for you, in this case it is not important. The investigation must be carried out at the location where the crime was committed.

In the case of Internet fraud, the crime scene is the World Wide Web. These cases are dealt with in Department “K”, and your appeal will be redirected there. Why go to the police if you can immediately write to Department “K”? Practice shows that most appeals from victims are refused consideration due to the fact that they are incorrectly drafted.

A police officer will help you clearly and consistently outline the course of events, eliminate unnecessary details from the statement and indicate points that are important for the investigation. You will be asked for possible evidence and asked to attach it to the document. As a result, you will get a complete and competent statement, which is difficult to compose yourself without experience. Of course, there are templates and samples on the Internet, but fraud takes very different forms, each case is individual.

Prosecutor's office

This body performs supervisory functions. It makes sense to submit an application to the prosecutor's office when it was not possible to exercise your right to protection by the police in the manner provided for in Art. 124, 125, 148 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. You can request a review of the actions of the employees of the department you contacted in two cases:

1. if you have been refused to initiate a criminal case due to the lack of corpus delicti, but do not agree with this decision;
2. if a criminal case has been initiated, but the investigative or inquiry authorities are inactive, you are in the dark about the progress of the case.

You can also contact the prosecutor's office if you are faced with fraud by a legal entity. In addition to the lawsuit, the victim can send an application to the prosecutor's office at the place of registration of the individual entrepreneur or company. In your appeal, you ask to check the legality of the organization’s work for fraudulent activities.

Department "K"

This is a special unit of the criminal police to investigate cases related to computer information. Its employees have extensive experience and all the necessary resources to calculate the identity and location of the criminal hiding behind fictitious accounts, websites, emails, and phone numbers. Directorate “K” is one of the most secretive in the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs system.

In what cases should you contact directly here:

• blocking the operating system of a PC or mobile device through special programs demanding money for returning access;
• hacking accounts on social networks, blackmailing and demanding money for returning access;
• theft of information or money from your accounts through malware;
• any fraudulent actions committed on the Internet (sale of non-existent goods, fake charity fees, financial pyramids, etc.).

You can submit an application to the regional Department “K” either in person (at the nearest police station) or online , through the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (section “Accepting applications”, addressee - Department “K”).

Department for Combating Economic Crimes

OEB (OBEP) is a department under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation that deals with economic crimes and corruption. It makes sense to write an application to the territorial Department of Economic Security if the subject of fraud on the Internet is a legal entity. OBEP specializes in identifying complex and intricate criminal schemes involving fictitious documentation, fake contracts and shadow accounts.

Common forms of online deception include:

• credit fraud;
• real estate fraud;
• any non-compliance with the contract by a legal entity;
• misappropriation of money by an official through abuse of trust or deception;
• misuse of funds by the management of the organization.

Based on the application, OBEP officers conduct an inspection and make a decision : transfer it to the appropriate authorities to initiate a criminal case or refuse to initiate it.

Fraud on the Internet often occurs on the social network VK or related to Qiwi wallets. Therefore, on our website you can read about these offenses.

Roskomnadzor

This is a special federal service for control in the fields of communications, IT and mass communications. Internet fraud is also within the purview of Roskomnadzor. In what cases does it make sense to contact here:

• if you need to block a malicious site;
• if you need to block a fraudulent community or account on social networks.

Important: appealing to Roskomnadzor is only an additional method of punishment.
Other authorities are involved in detaining the criminal, taking preventive measures and returning funds. You can submit your application through the Unified Government Services Portal or on the official website of Roskomnadzor.

Virtual payment system support service

If you transferred money to the attacker to an electronic wallet (QIWI, WebMoney, Yandex.Money and others), it makes sense to contact the support service of this payment system. This way you can quickly block the fraudster’s wallet so that he does not have time to cash out the money or transfer it to another account. Most likely, the site administration will not provide you with the user’s personal data, but will cooperate with law enforcement agencies if such a request is received in an official form.

Bank hotline

Consideration of a complaint by the police takes some time, and action must be taken immediately. If money was transferred to a criminal from your bank account, call customer support and report what happened. In what cases is it necessary to contact:

• “Phishing” is the theft of your card payment information on phishing sites and fake online stores.
• Purchase from an unscrupulous online store: they received the money and did not send the goods.
• Theft of your card and debiting of funds, payment for purchases.

Important: just in case, you can ask to temporarily block your card to protect your account from even greater losses. For greater efficiency, send a statement of the disputed transaction to the bank, to which attach a copy of your statement to the police.

If bank representatives do not respond or delay solving the problem, it makes sense to contact the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

How to write a statement to the prosecutor's office about fraud: useful tips and recommendations

Before filing a complaint with the prosecutor's office, it is useful to use our several recommendations. Here is their summary

Study the Criminal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure

We have already said above that fraudulent actions fall under several articles of the criminal law. Moreover, each of them has several parts. Therefore, it is important to correctly refer in the application to the relevant elements of the crime.

The Code of Criminal Procedure should pay attention to the rules that regulate the procedure for appealing a refusal to initiate a criminal case. They are also referred to in the statement.

Don't make categorical judgments

If you are only guessing who committed unlawful actions against you, but are not completely sure, then avoid making a categorical statement.

Otherwise, there is a risk of being held accountable for false denunciation. When you do not know the identity of the scammer, it is better to point to an unidentified person.

Avoid insults and harsh language in your application.

Practice shows that the prosecutor's office has an extremely negative attitude towards such an application. Therefore, be as correct as possible in your presentation or contact a fraud lawyer.

Justify the amount of damage caused

If you can document the extent of the damages caused, it is important to do so with convincing evidence. Naturally, they should be attached to the application.

Operate only with facts

Do not make any assumptions: state the circumstances regarding illegal actions clearly and specifically.

Leave your contact phone number

Stay in constant contact, as prosecutors may require additional information from you at any time.

Application Options

Since scammers have moved from the real world to the Internet, you can file a claim against them without leaving your home. This can be done in different ways.

Public services

The convenient State Services service (https://www.gosuslugi.ru) allows you to file a report against fraudsters. To do this, you need to register on the portal. Next, find the “security and law and order” link, which has a section for accepting applications. You should select the appropriate item called “reports of crimes and incidents.”

Watch the video: “Statement of fraud 159 art. Criminal Code of Russia."

By clicking on the description page, a form will appear that must be completed correctly.

Fill in all fields marked with an asterisk and indicate the applicant’s personal information. Then print out the completed form and deliver it to the police or submit an application online by clicking on the appropriate button.

Website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs

It is also possible to report a crime on the official portal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (https://mvd.rf). To do this, click on “Online services” and select “Receive requests”. By clicking on the link, the user is taken to a page where he needs to select “Management “K”” and click on the “continue” button.

Next, you will need to agree to read the information described and proceed to filling out the data.

Where and how to complain

You can write a complaint or claim regarding violations of consumer rights, laws, or unlawful actions of banking structures to several authorities that supervise the financial environment.

Where and how to complain, if necessary? You can send a complaint to:

1. Rospotrebnadzor. Through the official Internet resource, in person to the regional Office, Russian Post.
2. Central Bank of Russia. In electronic form on the official website, personally submit to the Headquarters or regional division, by mail.
3. Roskomnadzor. To the online reception on the Roskomnadzor website, in person to the regional office or by mail, by registered mail with acknowledgment of delivery.
4. Federal Antimonopoly Service. Via the Internet resource or its regional office, send by mail, or take it in person
5. Financial Ombudsman. In writing or via the official Internet.

Reasons for filing a complaint

The reasons for filing a claim with the bank may be different. For example, rude staff service or technical failures in the operation of ATMs and terminals, as well as more serious violations of Federal laws.

In most cases, clients demand the return of illegal commission fees under loan agreements that were canceled by a ruling of the Arbitration Court. Well, who wants to voluntarily part with money?

Quite often, outrage is caused by illegal debiting of funds for services that the client did not order. Among the dissatisfaction is the incompetence of bank employees and tellers who provide inaccurate information on certain financial products and services. Also, irritation is caused by the imposition by bank employees of services unnecessary to the client, and annoying advertising SMS mailings from banks. More and more claims are coming from customers who have suffered as a result of fraudulent activities of third parties.

Rights of the debtor and obligations of the creditor

In the process of financial and commercial relationships, the parties automatically have both the rights of the debtor and the obligations of the creditor. In the stereotypical thinking model, rights are associated with the lender, and responsibilities with the borrower. However, both one and the other party have both rights and obligations.

Regardless of what is stated in the agreement with the bank, the debtor has the right:

• defend your interests by all legal means;
• demand a reduction in the interest rate on the loan;
• for the return of insurance and hidden fees on a cash loan;
• for early full or partial repayment of the loan;
• for termination, re-registration or deferment of loan payments.

The creditor, in turn, is obliged:

• provide funds in the stated amount and on the terms specified in the agreement with the borrower;
• inform the borrower about all changes to the agreement and debt payments;
• maintain confidentiality regarding the client's financial situation.

Rules for serving a claim

The rules for submitting a claim to a banking institution provide for several methods.

1. Personal delivery of the claim to the manager or employee, who must record the letter as an incoming document, with the number and date of receipt of the correspondence. The client must keep one copy of the claim with the seal and signature of the person accepting it.
2. The claim can be sent by mail to the local address of the legal entity, necessarily by registered mail and preferably with return receipt requested. In this case, the receipt of payment and the receipt of the notification must be retained as evidence in case of litigation.

Contracts usually indicate the deadline for filing a claim on a particular issue and the time for resolving the dispute. However, not everyone always responds to complaints in order to resolve the conflict. But this does not mean that it is impossible to achieve justice and eliminate violations.

Pre-trial claim to the bank

A document in which participants in financial relationships demand the elimination of a violation or fulfillment of obligations under an agreement is a pre-trial claim to the bank. Such letters can be sent by both banks and clients. For example, the bank may require the deposit of funds, and the borrower may restructure illegal or hidden fees.

In agreements concluded between a credit or financial institution and a client, there is always a clause that states that any dispute must be resolved in a pre-trial format. To do this, the parties send claims with a detailed description of violations of articles of Federal laws and other regulations, with a requirement to resolve the situation.

The deadline for consideration of the complaint is specified in the letter. After this time has passed and if one of the parties ignores the claim, you should contact the judicial authorities.