After identity theft: fraudsters get bank loans to the amount of 90,000 BGN in the name of friends

A scheme for taking out loans through online fraud is being investigated by the Prosecutor's office in Plovdiv. A young couple from the city of Stara Zagora deceived three of their friends, stole their identity and obtained 9 bank loans to the total amount of 90,000 BGN on behalf of the deceived friends.

The loans were taken out in the period May - August, 2022. The perpetrators are a couple from Stara Zagora, who live in a civil partnership. The man is 32 years old. He has been arrested. His girlfriend, aged 22, is under house arrest because she has a one-year-old baby.

The couple defrauded three of their friends, by stealing their identity and took out 9 loans to the amount of 90,000 BGN. They obtained their identity card details by scanning them with their mobile phones on the pretext that they would produce photo collages as a souvenir for their friends. Thus, with the stolen identities they opened new accounts and emails in the name of the victims and managed to get the bank loans.

The entire procedure for application, approval and obtaining of the loans was done online. There was no physical visit to bank offices and signing of documents. In the course of the process, it will actually become clear that the banks themselves were defrauded.

Iveta Popova and her husband were defrauded and 7 loans to the amount of nearly 80,000 BGN were taken out in their names, for which they had no idea. They found out about the scam when they were contacted by a bank where they did not have an account.

"The bank explained to me that I had a loan that was not being paid and they wanted to refer me to a bailiff. And from there I went directly to the police and I also filed a complaint with the prosecutor's office," Iveta Popova said.

The third victim, Hrisiana Hristova, from Stara Zagora, was also shocked when the bank called her and told her that she had two non-performing loans. The woman told BNT that months ago her friend Ralitsa Kozarska asked her to take a picture of her identity card so that she could urgently get money for her little baby.

"I don't think it's normal with other people's personal data to get loans so easily online. I tried a month or two ago to get a loan from a bank, they didn't give me any. All of a sudden, at the same time I understand that she has withdrawn so much online, in my name, I don't know how this thing happened," said Chrissiana Hristova.

Another occasion for photos of faces and passports turned out to be a friendly memory photo collage.

"They said they would like to make cartoons because we bought a new house as a present and they said they needed a photo so the cartoon could be very clear and nice. We got a cartoon and it obviously came with loans as a gift," says Iveta Popova.

"The scammers took pictures of their victims’ faces, they made videos, took pictures of their ID cards. Then a company prepared a facial identification profile, facial recognition, which is used when opening bank accounts online," Atanas Iliev, deputy district attorney of Plovdiv, explained to BNT.

From the couple's home in Stara Zagora, investigators have seized numerous flash drives, mobile phones and an expensive car, which is being checked to see if it was bought with money from the loans.

"Unfortunately, most of this amount - about 90,000 BGN - was spent on online betting. That was their vice," Plovdiv deputy district prosecutor added.

The Bulgarian National Bank has been asked to check whether other loans in other banks were made in the names of the three victims.

"This whole procedure in the banks, in this case we are talking about 9 different banks, we are going to examine it in the case, so that if we find any omission in our activity, it is obviously not right for this to happen. Something that can be done about the security of these banking operations is to alert so that appropriate internal rules can be drawn up and, if necessary, law changes. Because, now, if I take a picture of you with my phone and if I can also get your ID card, it turns out that I can open a bank account in your name, obtain a loan from another bank, it can transfer the money to your bank account and I can use it," said Atanas Iliev.

"I would like to make an appeal to the public - if someone is informed by a bank that they owe money under loan that they believe is not owed, they should contact us, because that is what has become the reason for the discovery of this fraud through identity theft," said Chavdar Groshev, Plovdiv district prosecutor.

The investigation into the scheme is continuing by the Plovdiv economic police.

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