“A Fresh Corpse Needed.” The False Healer Deceived a Family, Making Them Dig a Grave 0 11

Hoped for Healing

In October 2024, 53-year-old Maria (name changed — ed.) sought the help of a mysterious healer named Serafima in hopes of healing her painful legs. Serafima generously offered promises of remote healing and curse removal on social media. The healer's page was filled with glowing reviews, and the woman, filled with hope, suspected nothing.

It all began with a “diagnosis” — for this, the “healer” asked for 2,000 rubles (22 euros). The verdict sounded frightening: the cause of the ailment was the evil eye. To rid herself of it, a “treatment” costing 5,000 rubles (55 euros) was required. But that was not all: without hesitation, the woman paid another 2,000 for the “coding” of a relative, trusting the healer's gift.

Later, “Serafima” informed her that she had seen a corpse at the client's gate — a sign of imminent death in the family. To avert the misfortune, a special ritual needed to be performed: gather all gold jewelry, tie it in a red scarf, and bury it at a specific grave in the cemetery.

Fear for her loved ones clouded her judgment. With trembling hands, Maria gathered all the gold in the house, tied it in a scarf, and went to the cemetery. She found the grave indicated by the “healer” and buried the valuables in the ground.

The next day, the phone rang again. “Serafima” claimed that the previous ritual had been performed incorrectly and demanded that the jewelry be moved to another grave. Perhaps the fraudster simply could not find the hidden items the first time — now she provided clearer instructions. After the woman buried the valuables again, the scammer solemnly announced: the jewelry could no longer be worn; they had “gone to the spirits.”

“She calls me and says: ‘You did the ritual wrong. Why didn’t you go there?’ She asks what roads lead to the cemetery. I explain, and she keeps repeating: ‘You did the ritual wrong. The demons and the dead are upset with you. Something terrible could happen now.’ Meanwhile, she pretends to be scared.

She said: ‘We need to fix this because the demons are showing me everything. I need a corpse that was buried recently — a fresh grave.’ My husband and I went, bought a shovel, and reburied everything. At night, she calls again and says that everything is fine, it’s over. The devil took everything,” Maria recounted.

Deciding to check if the spirits had indeed taken the gold, the woman returned to the cemetery early in the morning. The grave was dug up, and the valuables were nowhere to be found. At that moment, it finally dawned on her: she had become a victim of a sophisticated scam. Only after this did the woman contact the police.

Faces Up to 6 Years

The story continued in April of this year. Employees of the criminal investigation department unraveled the web of deception step by step. The identity of the suspect was established: she turned out to be a 35-year-old woman from Omsk. Initially, the woman tried to wriggle out — she claimed she had lost the bank card to which the victim’s money had been transferred. Why would a powerful sorceress need a bank’s services, who is on friendly terms with the devil himself — is unknown.

But the police, working together with the bank and mobile operators, quickly disproved this version. They recorded how the suspect withdrew money from an ATM and then traced her route — all the way to the cemetery where the gold jewelry was buried.

The fraudster was arrested at home — the healer turned out to live not in a hut, but in a regular residential area of a Siberian town. The police opened a criminal case, and the fraudster faces up to 6 years in prison.

Law enforcement officials advise citizens to be vigilant and not to trust the promises of “sorcerers” and “healers.” If you become a victim of fraud, immediately contact the police. It is also important to be cautious when communicating with strangers on social media, as such chains of deception often begin there.