Bulgaria's Deputy PM Simeon Djankov and Interior Ministry Secretary Kalin Georgiev have nearly fallen prey to telephone fraudsters.

Both top government officials got calls on their mobile phones with unknown people trying to trick them into believing that they are hearing from a relative in trouble, and must pay large sums of money to help them out.

Such telephone frauds are rampant in Bulgaria with ruthless criminals usually making calls to random numbers, and tricking elderly or just gullible people from all ages into giving them whatever money they have in cash by using a fake story about an accident.

According to the Code Criminal show of bTV, an associate of Bulgaria's Finance Minister and Deputy PM Simeon Djankov, who picked up his phone, even got tricked into paying BGN 4 000 to a pretend lawyer. The fraudsters told her that Djankov's father caused a car crash, and the money is needed to pay a bribe to get him out of being prosecuted.

It is still unclear if Djankov himself was notified and aware of the call and the transaction. The fraudsters were caught in an operation of the State National Security Agency DANS, and the money was returned.

"I am addressing the justice system – when such people are arrested, and their crimes are documented, they should not just be getting away with a probation, a public denouncement, and a suspended sentence," Bulgaria's Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov is quoted as saying in the spirit of his constant criticism of Bulgaria's judiciary for "letting criminals go."

Chief Secretary of the Interior Ministry Kalin Georgiev has admitted that he received a call from telephone fraudsters.

"I got a call from a person who used the well-known approach, and started crying on the phone. I did not respond to his calls. I asked my colleagues from Criminal Police to take care of him, and I suppose that we will meet in person very soon," Bulgaria's top policeman explained.