Crime in Moscow

Crime in Russia

Main article: Crime in Russia

2024: The number of crimes committed using IT in Moscow increased by 7.5%

The Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the city of Moscow published on May 23 statistics on the use of IT in three categories of crimes: remote fraud, economic crimes and drug distribution. Thus, in the first 4 months of 2024, the number of crimes committed using IT was registered by 7.5% more than last year for the same period - 21,239 criminal cases initiated.

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TAdviser

Attackers are increasingly using IT to commit crimes, but the Ministry of Internal Affairs is not lagging behind them, mastering more and more digital tools for investigation, such as AI and others. In almost every case today, AI is used to create a portrait of criminals and analyze connections. Police officers in the first 4 months of 2024 revealed 20% more people who committed IT crimes.

The number of pre-investigated crimes of this category increased by 16.5%. This was achieved thanks to the correlation of data from various sources, the use of artificial intelligence technologies and the construction of a comprehensive picture of the crime and the profiles of the actors participating in them.

It should be canceled that fraudsters in Moscow in 23.9% of cases use instant messengers, in 4.1% - social networks and only in 2.9% - Internet telephony. Moreover, the main means of obtaining funds by criminals in real cases was settlement cards. Scammers use them in 19.3% of cases, and payment systems in only 2.9% of cases.

source = Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the city of Moscow

From these data, it can be concluded that the main areas of prevention of such crimes are the promotion of the safe use of instant messengers and protection against attacks using social engineering aimed at using settlement cards.

Moreover, since IT is spreading more and more in everyday life, there are quite a lot of crimes using them. In particular, every third crime in the field of economic is committed using modern technology - mainly a deception when investing in cryptocurrencies or crowdfunding (joint investment in innovative projects).

Similarly, the distribution of drugs now also occurs using IT. So on the territory of the city of Moscow in the first four months, 3360 criminal cases were initiated against 1746 persons involved in drug trafficking, of which 1317 - against 1098 persons committed using IT technologies. In addition, 2,092 Internet sites were identified through which criminal groups distributed and promoted drugs. Denied access to 1760 resources.

The main scheme for the spread of drugs was the use of bookmarks, access to which is organized through communications in instant messengers, and payment for goods is made through cryptocurrencies. To investigate such crimes, the Ministry of Internal Affairs interacts with Rosfinmonitoring, which analyzes data in common blockchains, as well as direct interaction with exchanges.

It should be noted that blockchain is a pseudonymous system. The more information law enforcement officers know about the owners of certain blockchain addresses, the easier it is for them to investigate crimes using cryptocurrencies. However, obtaining personal information about addresses is constrained by the lack of legal circulation of cryptocurrencies - even legal users are in no hurry to disclose their data on the addresses registered on them. If the law on the legal circulation of cryptocurrencies were adopted, then it would be easier to disclose such a crime, since the requirements of anti-money laundering legislation would apply to crypto exchanges.

The faster we can identify a person who sells drugs, the faster we can bring him to criminal responsibility, - said Yevgeny Borodikhin, deputy head of the Drug Control Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for Moscow, answering a TAdviser question. - Collecting and analyzing such information will help us. We already use various opportunities to interact with some exchanges both ourselves and through Rosfinmonitoring. We identify this information, identify and then develop specific persons. In this way, several stores have already been identified this year, including manufacturers of synthetic drugs, managers, mortgagers and organizers.

2023

The number of robberies in Moscow in 13 years has decreased by 14 times

In 2023, 1.1 thousand robberies were recorded in Moscow. For comparison, in 2010 this figure was 15.1 thousand. Thus, in 13 years, the number of robberies in the Russian capital has decreased by about 14 times. Such figures were announced on January 25, 2024 by the Official Portal of the Mayor and the Government of Moscow.

It is noted that in 2023, compared with 2010, the number of apartment thefts decreased from 9.6 thousand to 279, the number of thefts of vehicles - from 10 thousand to 425. The number of crimes in public places during the period under review has almost tripled.

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Pexels

In recent years, thanks to the joint work of the Moscow government and law enforcement agencies on the streets of the city, it has become much calmer, the message says.

In 2023, 19% more crimes related to drug trafficking were identified. The number of persons prosecuted has increased. 386 wholesale supply channels were stopped. On the territory of the Moscow region, 13 underground drug laboratories were identified and liquidated.

It is also said that in 2023, compared with 2022, the number of murders in the capital decreased by 22.3%, intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm - by 8.8%, rape - by 21.2%. The number of apartment thefts decreased by 24.4%, vehicle thefts - by 32%, bank card thefts - by 9%. The total number of robberies decreased by 30.7%, robberies - by 25.4%. In addition, employees of the GU MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Russia in Moscow uncovered 6874 crimes committed as part of organized groups and criminal communities.

In addition, as noted, in 2023 the situation on Moscow roads continued to improve. The number of road accidents involving drivers with signs of intoxication is decreasing. A significant role in ensuring security in the capital, in preventing the commission of illegal acts, as well as solving crimes is played by the city video surveillance system.^[1]

Cybercrime detection growth by a quarter

In 2023 To Moscow , a quarter more cybercrimes were disclosed in than in 2022. Such data MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Russia were disclosed at the end of January 2024.

One of the unconditional priorities of the activities of the metropolitan police in 2023 was the fight against crimes committed using information and communication technologies. Their number is about 45% of all criminal offenses, while compared to the previous reporting period, 24% more such crimes were solved, - said in a statement by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, made after the meeting of the board of the head office at the end of 2023.

A quarter more cybercrimes were solved than in 2022

It is noted that the head of the Moscow Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Oleg Baranov instructed all interested services to continue to systematically inform citizens about new types of remote fraud, paying special attention to conducting preventive conversations with elderly citizens.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia recorded an almost 30 percent increase in cybercrimes from January to September 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. According to the Department for Interaction with Civil Society and Media Institutions (UOS) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the continuing increase in the number of crimes in the IT sphere may be due to an increase in the use of the Internet as a means of communication and commerce, as well as the attractiveness of the information and communication environment for the criminal element due to factors anonymity, cross-border and a relatively simple way of enrichment.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs believes that in connection with the most effective method of counteracting cybercrime, preventive work with the population remains, its informing about new methods and schemes for committing high-tech crimes? and methods of protecting citizens from them.^[2]

"Sberbank" in Moscow helped to detain more than 200 suspects in the commission of crimes

According to Nikita Kudryashkin, director of the Security Department of the Moscow Bank of Sberbank, from January to December 2023, Sberbank, together with the police, prevented more than 300 facts of fraud against the bank's clients in Moscow. At the request of bank representatives in the capital, over 60 criminal cases were initiated, more than 200 suspected of committing crimes were detained. Read more here.

2021: The number of crimes in Moscow decreased by 2.1%, to 143,259

In 2021, 143,259 crimes were committed in Moscow, which is 2.1% less compared to 2020. The decline occurred in most areas of the city. Such data were released on January 10, 2022 by the metropolitan prosecutor's office. The following administrative districts are in the lead in terms of the number of crimes:

• Central (20 thousand incidents);
• Vostochny (17 thousand);
• Southeast (15 thousand).

The number of crimes in Moscow decreased by 2.1%, to 143,259

The smallest number of crimes was registered in the north-west (11.7 thousand), in New Moscow (6.2 thousand) and Zelenograd (3.4 thousand). The largest increase in crime was registered in the South-East (by 5.8%), North (by 6.5%), North-West (by 7.1%) districts of Moscow, as well as New Moscow (by 2.6%). The largest - by 14.7% - crime decreased in the Eastern Administrative District.

According to the Moscow prosecutor's office, 50.7 thousand crimes occurred in public places of the city, including 29.5 thousand on the streets of the city. In general, street crime decreased by almost 4% compared to 2020.

The statistics of the supervisory authority also indicate that in Moscow during 2021 there were 359 robberies (-23.6% by 2020), 1784 robberies (-23.7%), 41,156 frauds (-4.6%), 61,548 thefts (+ 2.4%), including 460 of apartments (-34.1%), 758 - cars (-25.7%).

Muscovites have become 2.8% less likely to violate traffic rules. But the number of fatal accidents has increased sharply (plus 10.2%).

In December 2021, the Moscow traffic police announced a sharp decrease in the number of "drunk" accidents on the roads of Moscow: there were 7.3% fewer of them. In addition, the number of victims of such accidents has also decreased. In total, for 11 months of last year, inspectors detained about 22 thousand drivers with signs of alcohol intoxication.^[3]

1994

Prostitutes detained during the next raid on Tverskaya Street, 1994.

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