In the Moscow region, the spouses were suspected of defrauding the market of 18 million rubles.

A married couple is a suspect in a case opened under section 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code (fraud committed by an organized group or on an especially large scale). The maximum penalty provided for in this article is up to 10 years in prison.

According to the investigation, the couple took advantage of a promotion for about five months, according to which the site gave bonuses for leaving a review of a purchase and they could use them to pay for part of the merchandise; The suspects placed an order, left a review using special software, and then canceled the purchase. “So, about a million comments were posted from various accounts,” Volk said.

He added that to convert points into money, the attackers registered a fictitious online store where products were sold at inflated prices and used illegally obtained points to pay. The marketplace compensated the seller for this payment by transferring money in an amount equal to the bonuses debited from the buyer’s account.

The suspects were arrested at their place of residence. Police confiscated their phones, SIM cards, computer equipment, a luxury car, 8 million rubles and other items “with evidentiary value,” Volk said.

This is not the first time the Russians have used schemes to defraud markets. At the end of November 2024, a resident of Omsk was charged in a criminal case with large-scale fraud because she took advantage of a flaw in the payment system of one of the trading platforms. The total amount of damage amounted to more than 1.6 million rubles.