Article 165. Causing property damage by deception or abuse of trust

1. Causing property damage to the owner or other possessor of property by deception or abuse of trust in the absence of signs of theft, committed on a large scale, is punishable by a fine in the amount of up to three hundred thousand rubles or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to two years, or forced labor for a term of up to two years with or without restriction of freedom for a term of up to one year, or imprisonment for a term of up to two years with a fine in the amount of up to eighty thousand rubles or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to six months, or without it and with or without restriction of freedom for up to one year.

2. The act provided for in the first part of this article: a) committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy or by an organized group; b) causing especially large damage - is punishable by forced labor for a term of up to five years with or without restriction of freedom for a term of up to two years, or by imprisonment for a term of up to five years with a fine in the amount of up to eighty thousand rubles or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to six months or without it and with or without restriction of freedom for a period of up to two years.

Commentary to Art. 165 Criminal Code

1. The subject of the crime is property gain, i.e. increase in property, which should increase the value of the victim’s property.

2. The objective side of the crime is characterized by causing property damage through deception or abuse of trust in the absence of signs of theft (fraud) committed on a large scale.

Such property damage (and this is the difference from fraud) is caused as a result of the non-transfer of the perpetrators, the retention of property (including non-payment of funds), which, in accordance with the law, other legal act, or agreement, should go to the victim. The methods of committing a crime are deception or abuse of trust (clause 16 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 27, 2007 N 51 “On judicial practice in cases of fraud, misappropriation and embezzlement” and commentary on Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

3. The crime is considered completed from the moment the person fails to fulfill his obligation to transfer property or pay money to the victim in a large amount.

4. The qualifying features of this crime (Part 2) coincide with similar features of Art. 158 - 159 CC.

Who are marriage scammers?

Marriage scams are one of the most popular types of fraud. More often it is done by men who create for themselves the image of rich and gallant people who worked hard, but were never able to start a family. And so, supposedly, now, having made a fortune, they are looking for their soul mate.

Usually such men are charismatic, attentive, and witty. They know how to communicate and care for a woman. In general, marriage scammers are excellent at psychological manipulation techniques, telling women what they want to hear.

Only the real goal differs significantly from the stated one. Instead of marriage, such a man wants to get the woman’s money or property. The acquaintance quickly turns into a relationship; the woman brings the swindler into her home, and often registers him in her personal apartment. Further developments may vary depending on the scheme adopted by the fraudster.

Second commentary to Art. 165 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

1. The methods characterizing the objective side of the crime being analyzed are deception or abuse of trust. The crime in question differs from fraud in that when it is committed, it does not involve the taking of someone else’s property. The culprit receives illegal enrichment not at the expense of property located in the cash funds of the owner or other owner, but through the unlawful appropriation of property (or payment for a service), which has not yet been received, but in accordance with the law, other regulatory legal act or agreement must be received in these funds, as well as through non-payment of mandatory payments.

For example, submitting a fictitious certificate to the social security authorities about having the required work experience in hazardous industries and unjustifiably receiving a pension supplement should be classified as fraud, since profit is made by receiving illegal payments from the state budget. And the submission at the place of residence of a forged certificate about the presence of dependents of the culprit in order to reduce the amount of utility bills contains elements of causing property damage by deception in the absence of signs of theft, since the culprit illegally withholds money that is subject to receipt of the local budget, and does not withdraw it from there.

2. The crime is considered completed from the moment of actual infliction of property damage.

3. The subjective side of the crime is characterized by direct intent, selfish motive and the goal of extracting illegal property benefits.

4. Only a private person over 16 years of age can be the subject of a crime. When the same actions are performed by an official or a person performing managerial functions in a commercial or other organization, the act should be additionally qualified under Art. 285 or under Art. 201 CC.

5. The qualifying features of a crime are: commission of a crime by prior conspiracy by a group of persons or on a large scale. They have the same content as during theft.

6. The commission of a crime by an organized group as a sign of a particularly qualified group has the same content as in the case of theft. As for paragraph “b” of Part 2 of Art. 165 of the Criminal Code, the legislator associates the increased punishment not with a large amount (as in the case of theft), but with large damage. However, the legislator evaluates the size and damage using the same quantitative indicators (this can be seen from the note to Article 169 of the Criminal Code). In relation to Art. 165 of the Criminal Code, large damage amounts to an amount exceeding two hundred and fifty thousand rubles (note 4 to Article 158 of the Criminal Code).

What is considered major damage?

Large amount of damage is an assessment category that was introduced in order to be able to measure the harm caused to a person as a result of an offense.
The concept under consideration influences the punishment applied to the perpetrator. If the court considers a case of theft, robbery or other types of criminal acts directed against property, this qualifying feature is taken into account. When a person has stolen several items, their value for imposing punishment will be calculated in total.

Important! If we are talking about ongoing or continuing acts, all property that was stolen during a certain period of time will be taken into account.

In order to assess the damage caused when not only money is stolen, but also art objects of value, an examination must be carried out.

The state, in the chapter of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation regulating punishment for committing crimes against property, indicates that a large amount is an amount exceeding 250 thousand rubles (indicated in the note to Article 158 of the Criminal Code). It is worth noting that the code contains a clause according to which major damage is equal to 1.5 million rubles. This provision applies to the situation when we are talking about acts committed in the area of:

• entrepreneurship;
• insurance;
• credit fraud;
• using cards with payment purposes;
• computer technologies.

Large amounts are also mentioned in other provisions of criminal law; this applies to acts committed in the economic sphere. It is established that the damage in question is at least 1.5 million rubles. When it comes to restricting competition, damage exceeding 10 million rubles is considered major.

Examples from life

The schemes of marriage scammers are repeated with minor variations. Let's give a few specific examples.

Under the guise of a rich foreigner, the man corresponded with the woman, increasingly ingratiating himself into her trust. A very important aspect was his mention of raising children after the death of his wife. The woman was touched and impressed. After a certain time of communication online, the “foreigner” sent the woman a gift, upon receipt of which she had to pay part of its value. Of course, there was no gift in the parcel.

Another example also concerns dating on a corresponding site, but online communication quickly developed into a relationship and cohabitation. After just a few weeks of living together, an unemployed boyfriend asked the woman to take out a loan to open a business. At the same time, he promised to register the business in her name. But in practice, he simply disappeared with the money, leaving his gullible partner with loan debts.

Considering the practice of such scams, you need to understand that scammers are looking not only for rich women. The main criterion is trust. Deception does not always lead to the loss of very large sums of money, but this is not uncommon. Despite the fact that the victim may not have that kind of money, but take it on credit.

Therefore, when making any acquaintances, you need to be careful and not too trusting, especially in financial matters.

What to do when asked to borrow money?

You need to strictly follow the rule - do not lend money on your word of honor to a person about whom little is known. Even if a couple has already started living together, but has been living for a short time and knows little about each other, you should be wary of deception.

In order to protect yourself, you need to give money only against a receipt and when drawing up a loan agreement with a notary.

The receipt must indicate the full name of the recipient and the lender, the borrower’s passport details, the date of receipt and return of money. The receipt is signed by both parties to the transaction.

How to get rid of a marriage swindler?

You need to be careful when meeting suitors who are in a hurry and are constantly interested in the material well-being of their “beloved.” It is especially worth taking a closer look if family and friends say that his behavior is very similar to a marriage scam scheme.

In the case when everything indicates that you are facing a deceiver, it is worth:

• Stop contact with him. You can express suspicions about him directly to his face. If a woman is not so straightforward, then it is enough to stop answering his calls and messages.
• Another option is to play along with the scammer, but not give him any money, even if he asks and refers to global problems.
• Do not enter into an intimate relationship with a swindler.
• Find out as much information as possible about the boyfriend - about his family, place of work, biography (in particular, whether he has a previous criminal record).

All measures can be combined with one piece of advice - think soberly and not give in to dreams of a cloudless future with such a person.

How do marriage scammers operate?

Scammers are always confident in themselves, and their scam is thought out to the smallest detail. It includes a number of stages:

• Self-presentation. A man strives in every possible way to show his success and independence from other people.
• Stage of beautiful courtship.
• The rapid development of events in the wake of the success of the courtship. At this stage, the scammer fraudulently obtains the woman’s money or valuables without her even having time to consult anyone.

Sometimes the scheme includes a marriage stage. In this case, its conclusion is followed by a quick divorce and division of property. Such scams are the most dangerous, since women often lose their only living space.

How do marriage swindlers behave?

It is worth listing the most common actions of scammers to attract gullible victims. Scammers:

• Give gifts.
• They give compliments.
• Show interest in a woman's well-being. If she is financially unsuccessful, then the swindler’s interest instantly dries up.
• They don't talk about where they live.
• They do not introduce the girl to friends and family. In general, quite often such swindlers “turn out” to be orphans and disappointed in old friends.
• They strive to quickly get to a woman’s home and start living with her (in her house, of course).
• They talk a lot about family, children and a future together.
• They don’t like to be photographed, but they are happy to photograph a woman.
• They usually have “romantic” professions that attract women - military men, sailors, etc.

The goal of all these actions is to gain the woman’s trust. Once this is successful, the scammer will try to get money from her under one pretext or another. In particular, he will suddenly fall ill and need money for treatment, become a participant in an accident who must pay money to the victim, and ask to take out a bank loan for some important purpose. The love story will end immediately after the swindler receives the desired money. He will simply disappear.

Such schemes are often detected at the level of banal logic, because swindlers often pose as wealthy men. Why would a wealthy man ask his fiancee for money?

Signs of a swindler's groom

It is important to learn how to identify scammers already at the stage of reviewing his profile on a dating site. In favor of the version that there is a swindler in front of the woman, he says:

• Fuzzy and small profile photo. This is done to make it difficult to see and recognize the person.
• Occupation, place of residence and other important data are not indicated. The page is almost empty.
• The opposite option is a detailed description of successes in business, in “heroic” and bright professions, etc. Such profiles should raise red flags, because the question arises: why didn’t such an ideal man find a companion outside of a dating site?

When identifying such characteristic features of a profile, it is better to ignore the messages of its owner or communicate with him very carefully, analyzing his behavior.

Where do marriage swindlers ply their trade?

Such pseudo-grooms look for their victims wherever they can meet a lonely woman. It can be:

• Dating websites. A very convenient place for scammers, because many women sit on them, purposefully looking for a man for a serious relationship and marriage.
• In social networks. In this case, acquaintance can begin around a discussion of common interests. Often, a swindler feigns interest in a topic in order to attract a woman’s attention.
• In public places - clubs, shops, fitness centers and even transport.

Scammers are good at determining the psychological type of the victim. The most susceptible to their influence are gullible ladies who believe in love at first sight.