Fighting phone fraud

Main article: Telephone fraud

Biometric database of fraudsters

Main article: Biometric database of fraudsters

Chronicle

2026

Head of the State Duma IT Committee Sergei Boyarsky recognized the ineffectiveness of labeling calls in the fight against fraudsters

In January 2026, the head of the IT Committee of the State Duma of the RFUergey Boyarsky reported problems with labeling calls to mobile phones - it does not help to fight fraudsters. According to him, there are problems with mass challenges - these are call centers, sociologists, banks and collection agencies. He added that the adjustment is carried out manually. Mandatory labeling of calls to smartphones from legal entities and individual entrepreneurs was introduced in Russia from September 1, 2025.^[1]

Government tightens penalties for telecom operators and certification centers to counter fraudsters

In mid-January, the Russian government submitted to the State Duma bill No. 1120721-8 "On Amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian^[2], which is aimed at strengthening responsibility for some violations in the provision of communication services and certification centers (CA). This is part of a whole set of fraud protection measures that are being taken at the state level. Among the changes you are making are:

• establish administrative liability of telecom operators for concluding contracts for the provision of mobile radiotelephone services in unidentified places;
• administrative responsibility is introduced for non-compliance by telecom operators with the requirements for ensuring the functioning of verification nodes when interacting with GIS Antifraud"";
• increasing the statute of limitations for initiating administrative cases against accredited certification centers in the field of electronic signature (Article 13.33 of the Administrative Code).

The entry into force of these measures is scheduled for September 1, 2026.

The essence of the bill, as explained by TAdviser Sergey Kiryushkin, adviser to the general director of Gazinformservice, is to increase the statute of limitations for administrative offenses in the IT sector. They are established in part 1 of article 4.5 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. And telephone frauds, that is, frauds that exploit vulnerabilities in the organizational, regulatory and technological support of communication networks and communications means, is one of the issues raised by the bill. For these violations by telecom operators, the bill increases the statute of limitations.

In addition, the legislative initiative introduces the responsibility of operators not only for non-adherence to the system of ensuring compliance with the requirements put into operation by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1978 in November 2022, but also for non-compliance with the rules for interaction with this system. In particular, these rules are supplemented by the requirement to maintain the operation of software and hardware around the clock, providing verification of information about the initiation of a telephone call, sending a short text message or connection for the purpose of transmitting voice information.

Authorized state authorities have recently recorded an increase in the number of fraudulent calls through foreign messengers, - said in an explanatory note to the bill. - Most of such unwanted and fraudulent calls fell on banking services and fraudsters posing as bank employees, over the year their number increased by a quarter.

The explanatory note also says that in 2025, due to the inaccessibility of verification nodes, the operation of which should be provided by telecom operators when interacting with the Antifrod GIS, more than 113.4 million calls were missed without verification.

Operators are now only required to pass data on all calls through the Antifrod GIS, "Viktor Chashchin, director of strategic development at Multifactor, reminded TAdviser readers. - In fact, simply additionally transfer information to the state centralized system for tracking suspicious actions.

According to the expert, in the current form, the measures applied are aimed primarily at developing the discipline of transmitting and processing call or message data by telecom operators, and also determine the regulatory framework for the process of investigating fraudulent actions. At the same time, there was no obligation to ensure the functioning of verification nodes in the legislation around the clock and daily until recently. Therefore, it was necessary to tighten measures to control their work with a separate bill. The next stage in the development of this initiative should be the preventive blocking of communication attempts by fraudsters.

The proposed measures strengthen the responsibility of telecom operators, which in turn should protect citizens from fraudulent calls, "Olga Popova, chief lawyer of the Kontur.Egida and Staffcop projects, explained to TAdviser. - But the effectiveness of protection will depend on the adaptability of communication systems. At the same time, we do not forget that fraudsters also have large resources to strengthen their impacts, and it is important here that the adaptability of the measures taken is higher than the improving schemes of fraudsters.

In addition, the government decided to tighten supervision of accredited certification centers in terms of bringing them to administrative responsibility. The entire article 13.33 of the Administrative Code is devoted to the administrative responsibility of accredited certification centers that issue qualified certificates of electronic signature. The requirements for them are quite strict: they are determined by the provisions of Law No. 63-FZ "On Electronic Signature."

At the time of the preparation of the bill, violations of the CA fell under the total statute of limitations under the Code of Administrative Offenses - 3 months, but it did not correspond to the level of responsibility of accredited CAs and the complexity of the problematic area of ​ ​ electronic signature. The explanatory note says that this period is not enough to carry out appropriate control measures and prepare the materials necessary to initiate cases. The bill involves increasing this period to one year.

As Sergey Kiryushkin noted, these edits do not directly relate to "telephone frauds." This is the topic of another type of offense in the field of high technologies - using electronic signature certificates issued by certification centers without proper verification of the recipient.

The history of the Yekaterinburg TC "Solar," whose activities were prematurely terminated by the Ministry of Digital Development in December 2021, is notorious, but no one was responsible for the numerous violations committed by this TC. The company, which was engaged in fraud by issuing certificates according to unconfirmed data, was liquidated in mid-January 2026^[3]Perhaps an increase in the statute of limitations for such violations will allow in the future to exclude such schemes of "forgery" of electronic signatures.

The proposed measures cannot be considered as a panacea for telephone fraud, but each such step is a move towards systemic containment of mass scenarios, "Mikhail Timaev, head of the IT Task technical presale department, told TAdviser. - The main problem lies not in the lack of technical means of protection, but in the gaps between the participants of the chain - telecom operators, certification centers and services that use electronic signature and remote identification. The bill is just aimed at closing these gaps and increasing responsibility for each of the parties.

In St. Petersburg, fraudsters who pretended to be psychics and lured millions of rubles by phone received 4 years in prison

In St. Petersburg, employees of the Andrei Vladimirovich Yasny Center for Parapsychology were convicted of fraud on an especially large scale, posing as psychics who deceived their clients who were in a difficult life situation and took possession of the victims' funds. This was announced in December 2025 by the press service of the city prosecutor's office. The court appointed Vadima Bocharova and Oksana Karpinovich four years in a general regime colony with a fine of 300 thousand rubles. each, Artem Slesarev - two years and 200 thousand rubles, Konstantin Kalinin - two years conditionally with a fine of 200 thousand rubles. Read more here

In Novosibirsk, up to 7 years in prison, telephone scammers received 21.7 million rubles for theft. They hacked accounts in social networks and deceived acquaintances

In Novosibirsk, the Leninsky District Court sentenced seven local residents. They are found guilty of theft and fraud. The court found that the organized group stole more than 21.7 million rubles from 55 citizens, and sentenced its members to a term of 4 to 7 years in a general regime colony. The verdict was reported by the press service of the prosecutor's office of the Novosibirsk region on January 13, 2026.

The court found that the crimes were committed in different regions of Russia from July 2021 to September 2022. The fraud scheme consisted of several ways. The first was the creation of fake websites for online stores selling computer components, household appliances and phones at low prices. Advertisements for these sites were placed on various Internet resources.

Telephone scammers from Novosibirsk were sentenced to 7 years for theft of 21.7 million rubles. They hacked social networks and deceived acquaintances

The second method involved hacking social media accounts. Attackers posted false messages on behalf of account holders asking for financial assistance due to the difficult life situation of a friend.

The third method is telephone fraud. Criminals, posing as bank or law enforcement officers, reported to citizens about allegedly unauthorized transactions on their accounts. To "save funds," they urged to transfer money to special "reserve" accounts.

The head of the group attracted persons to cash out the stolen funds. The performers used bank cards and SIM cards issued for third parties who did not know about the crime.

The six defendants pleaded not guilty, saying they were engaged in cryptocurrency transactions without the intention of deceiving anyone. One defendant pleaded guilty in part. The convicts were not compensated for the damage.

The crime was solved by employees of the Office for the FSB Russia Novosibirsk Region. The claims of the victims for compensation for damage totaling over 21.7 million rubles were satisfied in full.^[4]

2025

Launch of a unified system for marking calls from legal entities

On September 1, 2025, new rules for mandatory labeling of calls from organizations came into force in Russia. To simplify this process, the largest Big Four telecom operators - Beeline, Megafon, MTS and T2 - have developed and published open APIs. We are talking about the creation of a unified system for marking calls from organizations. This became known at the end of December 2025.

The representative of the Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation explained to Vedomosti that "the development of an open API will optimize the process of exchanging markings between operators." The service is provided free of charge, the operators specified.

A unified system for marking calls from legal entities was launched in Russia

According to the new rules, when an incoming call is made, the name of the calling company or individual entrepreneur should be displayed on the subscriber's phone screen, as well as the call category (for example, "bank").

The marking service is provided by telecom operators to businesses on a paid basis. At the beginning of September 2025, the average cost, according to Vedomosti estimates, was about 0.3 rubles. for one marked call. Fines for the lack of labeling are not provided for by law.

The purpose of the innovation, as the Ministry of Ministry of Digital Development assures, is to protect citizens from fraud and spam, as well as increase the transparency of communications. The API works as a single standardized language for the exchange of information between all participants in the process: telecom operators, subscribers and organizations.

Dmitry Galushko, President of the Association of Small Telecom Operators of the Regions, explained that the API allows companies to independently and automatically manage the binding of telephone numbers to their name, which is necessary with frequent rotation of numbers in call centers. Without such a tool, reconciliation would be done manually, which would significantly slow down the process.

According to experts interviewed by the publication, the interaction between operators should be aimed at combining efforts in the fight against fraud, and not at obtaining commercial benefits. Ekaterina Litvinova, senior manager of the Tedo business consulting practice, believes that the use of open APIs in the future will allow regional operators to connect to the labeling system directly, bypassing the mediation of large players.

The main beneficiaries from the introduction of the technology, according to Litvinova, are corporate clients, such as banks and large networks, who are interested in delivering their marked calls to subscribers. The Big Four operators themselves gain an advantage by reducing costs through process unification.^[5]

In the Moscow region, a telephone fraudster received 4 years in prison. He introduced himself as an employee of the Ministry of Defense and stole 13 million rubles

In December 2025, the Khimki City Court of the Moscow Region sentenced a telephone fraudster who fraudulently lured more than 13 million rubles from citizens. The accused was sentenced to 4 years in prison with serving in a maximum security colony.

The details of the case were reported to TASS by the joint press service of the courts of the Moscow region. The court found that the criminal, posing as an employee of the Russian Ministry of Defense, acted by prior conspiracy as part of a group of persons posing as employees of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Investigative Committee ( IC) of Russia. The accomplices convinced the victim that for a monetary reward they could ensure the release of his son, accused of deliberate damage to property and a terrorist act.

The Moscow Regional Court sentenced a telephone fraudster to 4 years in prison. He, pretending to be an officer of the Ministry of Defense, stole 13 million rubles from the victim

On the basis of these actions, the defendant was found guilty under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud on an especially large scale). In addition to imprisonment, the court sentenced him to a fine of 300 thousand rubles.

The Center for Public Relations of the FSB of Russia warns of a new fraudulent scheme. It consists in the use of telephone number substitution technology, as a result of which a number identical to the numbers of real special services is displayed on the victim's screen.

During calls, fraudsters, posing as security officers, use psychological pressure. They convince citizens of the need to transfer funds to the so-called "safe account," urgently cash money for transfer to the courier "for preservation" or pay for the termination of the allegedly initiated criminal case.

To gain the victim's trust, attackers display photos of fake service IDs, fake orders and other documents through instant messengers. They threaten citizens with criminal prosecution for disclosing state secrets in case of non-cooperation or violation of confidentiality.

The FSB stressed that an official notification of the status of a suspect or accused is always handed out personally in writing. Employees of the department never contact citizens through instant messengers, do not send photos of documents and do not require a transfer of money or messages from bank cards.^[6][7]

Victims of telephone fraud in Russia were allowed to file claims against the owner of the card on which the transfer was received

In December 2025, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation issued a resolution allowing victims of telephone fraud to file civil claims for damages in court at their place of residence. The decision was made on the complaint of a resident of the Stavropol Territory, from whom 235 thousand rubles were stolen from a bank account in August 2021.

Earlier, according to Article 28 of the Civil Procedure Code (GPK) of the Russian Federation, such claims had to be brought exclusively at the place of residence of the defendant, that is, the persons to whose card the funds were transferred. This created significant obstacles for the victims. In the case in question, the plaintiff would need to go to the court of the Moscow region to file an application, which, being a mother with many children, she could not afford. The Constitutional Court recognized this article as contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Russia has expanded the rights of victims of fraudsters: now you can sue the owners of recipient cards

The court pointed out that telephone fraud is directly related to violation of order in the banking services sector, and the relations between financial organizations and customers are consumer in nature. Therefore, the deprivation of this category of affected procedural guarantees that are provided to other categories of plaintiffs is unacceptable. According to Kommersant, the plaintiff's case has been sent for a new trial.

Yuri Mirzoev, General Director of the National Law Firm Mitra, believes that the legislator will enshrine in the code the procedure prescribed by the court. Dmitry Grigoriadi, partner, head of criminal practice at the KIAP law firm, assessed the ruling as a strategic step by the judicial system towards increased protection of victims of cybercrime.

According to Grigoriadi, the rule of exclusive jurisdiction at the place of residence of the defendant in the context of digital crime is outdated. He noted that the new approach changes the balance of power, since it obliges the nominal account holder to justify himself in court at the place of residence of the victim.^[8]

The FSB detained 19 people in 12 regions, who are accused of using 9 thousand. SIM cards for phone fraud

In September-October 2025, in 12 regions of Russia, employees of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ministry of Internal Affairs) detained 19 Russian citizens suspected of organizing the work of SIM boxes. These devices, according to the special services, were used for activities in the interests of Ukraine.

According to the Center for Public Relations (DSP) of the FSB of Russia, during the operation to suppress the activities of illegal communication channels, detentions were carried out in St. Petersburg, the republics of Adygea and Dagestan, Stavropol Territory, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, as well as in Vladimir, Irkutsk, Kemerovo, Moscow, Ryazan, Samara and Chelyabinsk regions.

The FSB detained 19 people in 12 regions, who are accused of using 9 thousand. SIM cards for phone fraud

According to the investigation, the detained citizens organized the illegal work of SIM boxes - special devices that allow you to remotely use a large number of SIM cards for mass sending of messages or calls via the Internet. During the searches, more than 40 such devices were seized, as well as over 9 thousand. SIM cards and chips.

The detainees were engaged in replenishing the balance of SIM cards, illegally selling subscriber numbers of Russian telecom operators, as well as providing services for registering accounts on the Internet.

The FSB said that illegal communication channels were used by the Ukrainian special services to involve Russians in sabotage and terrorist activities, their coordination, as well as for remote fraud and mass sending false messages about mining. The detainees, according to the department, acted for monetary remuneration from foreign curators, which is confirmed by correspondence in the seized means of communication.

Criminal cases were initiated against the defendants under three new articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which entered into force on September 1, 2025: Art. 274.3 (illegal use of a special device for mass telephony), Art. 274.4 (organization of illegal sale of telephone numbers) and Art. 274.5 (organization of illegal registration of accounts on the Internet). These articles provide for punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to six years. The investigation is ongoing.^[9]

The developer of the "NDCGate" program was detained in Russia, through which hundreds of millions of rubles were stolen from Russians

Employees of the Cybercrime Department MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Russia , together with cyber police officers from the Moscow Rostov and Samara regions, detained members of an interregional criminal group. Among the detainees is the developer and chief administrator of the control panel of the "NDCGate" program, with the help of which remote embezzlement of money from citizens' bank cards was carried out. This was reported by the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Irina Volk in her Telegram channel on December 5, 2025. More. here

FSB liquidated the technical center of Ukrainian telephone fraudsters in St. Petersburg

In St. Petersburg and Togliatti, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, together with the Department of the Federal Security Service (FSB) in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, liquidated the technical center of telephone fraudsters. The organization made up to 30 thousand calls a day from the territory of Ukraine. This was announced on December 1, 2025 by the official representative of the MVDRossia Irina Volk.

According to TASS, during the operation, two suspects in complicity were detained. According to the investigation, a resident of St. Petersburg entered into a conspiracy with a representative of foreign fraudulent call centers. Together with an accomplice from the Samara region, he created a stationary technical unit. This infrastructure allowed criminals to make mass calls to Russian citizens and ensure the stable operation of telephone numbers used for illegal purposes. For their activities, attackers received weekly remuneration in cryptocurrency.

FSB officers stopped the activities of the center of telephone fraud associated with Ukraine in the city of St. Petersburg

During the searches, GSM gateways (devices that convert telephone signals between fixed wired lines and mobile GSM networks) were confiscated. Volk also said that more than 700 SIM cards of various mobile operators, computer equipment and communications were seized.

Criminal cases have been initiated under articles on fraud and illegal use of a subscriber terminal for passing traffic or a virtual telephone exchange. The defendants are suspected of involvement in 24 episodes of criminal activity. According to Volk, frauds were committed in St. Petersburg, Leningrad Region and other regions, including Yaroslavskaya, Voronezh, Tomsk and Rostov Regions, Perm, Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories, as well as the Republic of Buryatia.^[10]

Telephone scammers to whom Larisa Dolina sold a 5-room apartment received up to 7 years in prison

In November 2025, the Balashikha City Court of the Moscow Region sentenced four members of a criminal group convicted of fraud on an especially large scale against People's Artist of Russia Larisa Dolina. The defendants were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. Read more here.

Roskomnadzor blocked 12 million SIM-cards to combat telephone fraudsters

Since the beginning of 2025, Roskomnadzor has blocked more than 12.2 million anonymous SIM cards as part of the fight against their "gray" turnover and telephone fraud. This was announced on November 27, 2025 by the head of the department for the Perm Territory Alexei Yushkov, speaking with a report to the deputies of the regional parliament. Read more here.

How much do Kazakhstani banks spend on combating fraudsters

Banks of Kazakhstan send an average of 0.15% of the annual volume of online transactions to anti-fraud measures (procedures for countering financial fraud). This data was published on November 26, 2025 by Baraiq, an anti-fraud solutions developer. Read more here.

Kazakhstan began to completely block phone numbers from which scammers call

On November 18, 2025, an order came into force in Kazakhstan regulating the blocking of subscriber numbers used for fraudulent calls. According to the new version of the rules for the provision of services, mobile operators are obliged to use their anti-fraud systems - software complexes for detecting fraudulent activities - and integrate them with the database of the National Bank's anti-fraud center. Read more here

The Ministry of Internal Affairs gave the Russians instructions on how to "clean" the digital trail so as not to become victims of cyber fraudsters

In November 2025, the Cyber ​ ​ Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs gave recommendations to Russians on how to minimize their digital footprint on the Internet to protect against fraudsters. It is impossible to completely delete data about yourself on the network, but you can significantly reduce risks.

According to RBC, in order to "clean" your information trail, you should delete abandoned accounts that compromise information about yourself, as well as emails with old passwords and logins. Storing old information about a user on the Internet is fraught with risks. In particular, it can become a reason for blackmail.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs provided the Russians with recommendations to remove the digital trail to protect against cyber fraud

Cyber ​ ​ police recommends finding information about yourself in the browser by typing your name, email address or nicknames. Additionally, you can use the Namechk and Web Cleaner search services. These tools help detect all mentions of a user on the network.

After finding the information, you need to analyze what data may pose a threat. Special attention should be paid to old profiles on forums, dating sites and other platforms. Outdated contact details or personal information can be stored there.

You can delete your abandoned pages and accounts, as well as revoke access from old applications. Many users forget about registrations on various services that have not been used for a long time. Such accounts become an easy target for attackers.

The process of deleting accounts on different platforms is different. On some sites, you can do this yourself through your profile settings. Others require a support call. It is important to go through the complete removal procedure, and not just deactivate your account.

If during the search the user found links to incriminating or false information about himself, he can apply the "right to oblivion." To do this, you need to submit official applications to search engines support services. If the data is on the site, then you can find the owner through the who.is and ask to personally delete it.

The right to oblivion is enshrined in Russian legislation. Search engines are required to consider such applications and remove links to outdated or inaccurate information. However, the process can take time and requires justification.^[11]

In China, leaders of fraudulent call centers sentenced to death

Chinese justice sentenced to death the leaders of a criminal group that engaged in industrial-scale cyber fraud from neighboring Myanmar. This became known in November 2025. Read more here.

In Singapore, began to cut rods for telephone and Internet fraud

In early November 2025, the Parliament of Singapore amended the Criminal Code, expanding the list of crimes for which the country provides for punishment in the form of flogging with rods. This list includes telephone and Internet fraud. Read more here.

Kazakhstanis will no longer be able to make transfers during telephone conversations

Since November 1, 2025, Kazakhstan has tightened information security requirements for financial organizations and their clients. The key change was the ban on making money transfers during a telephone conversation. Read more here.

A communication center for Ukrainian telephone fraudsters was found in the Leningrad region. Hundreds of SIM cards and telecom equipment seized

In the Boksitogorsky district of the Leningrad region, criminal investigation officers detained a 36-year-old resident of the city of Pikalevo, who is suspected of organizing the work of a "call center" for foreign fraudsters. This was announced on November 5, 2025 by the Petersburg Police Telegram channel.

According to operatives, in July 2025, a man equipped a stationary technical unit in his apartment and ensured its functioning. This illegal infrastructure allowed criminals outside the Russian Federation to make massive fraudulent calls to citizens across the country.

During the search at the place of residence of the detainee, material evidence was found and seized by the police: 2 GSM gateways, a SIM box, computer equipment, Wi-Fi routers and about 240 SIM cards of various mobile operators.

It was previously established that with the help of seized SIM-cards, criminal fraudulent actions were already committed against residents of several regions of Russia.

A criminal case was initiated under Part 3 of Article 274.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The suspect was detained in accordance with Article 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, operational measures are being taken to identify his accomplices and identify all episodes of illegal activities.

This is not the first case of the liquidation of a criminal "call center" in St. Petersburg over the past two months. As reported on September 27, 2025, "Газета.ru" with reference to the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for St. Petersburg, an illegal communication center was found in a house on Marshal Kazakov Street.

During the search, law enforcement officers seized 3 SIM boxes, 260 SIM cards, computer equipment and bank cards, and also detained two foreign citizens for 22 and 24 years. It is clarified that online swindlers deceived two residents St. Petersburg in the amount of more than 300 thousand. rubles^[12][13]

Couriers of telephone fraudsters in the Yaroslavl region were given up to 7 years in prison for embezzlement of ₽7 million

A court in Yaroslavl sentenced three couriers of fraudsters who stole more than ₽7 million from pensioners to terms ranging from four years, three months to seven years in prison. The attackers committed 17 episodes of embezzlement of funds from residents of the city and region. This was reported by the press service of the Yaroslavl Regional Court on October 21, 2025.

According to TASS, the Dzerzhinsky District Court of Yaroslavl convicted Vladimir Reutov, Alexei Mochalov and Zhyrgalbek Asanov. All three played the role of couriers as part of an organized group of telephone scammers.

Telephone scammers who worked as couriers in the Yaroslavl region received prison sentences of up to seven years for stealing 7 million rubles

Elderly residents of Yaroslavl and the Yaroslavl region handed over to couriers amounts from ₽50 thousand to ₽1,2 million. The crimes were committed in January and February 2023. All couriers arrived in the Yaroslavl region from other regions of Russia.

The fraud scheme was built on the classic model of deception of the elderly. Unknown persons called elderly citizens and reported false information that their close relative had committed an offense. Fraudsters claimed money was urgently needed to help a relative.

The attackers also used a different cheating scenario. They warned of an unauthorized attempt to withdraw money from the victims' bank accounts. According to fraudsters, this should have happened with the help of a fake power of attorney and the transfer of funds to other accounts.

Couriers came to the addresses indicated by the curators of the criminal group. They received cash from pensioners. To make their actions convincing, fraudsters handed over forged documents to the victims.

After receiving the money, the couriers transferred the stolen funds to the curators' accounts. The attackers kept part of the money as a reward for the work done.^[14]

In Russia, seized equipment from which telephone scammers made 20 million calls per day

Russian law enforcement agencies seized more than 2 thousand boxes and sim over 500 thousand sim-cards, which allowed fraudsters to commit up to 20 million attacks per day. This was stated by the Prosecutor General, Russia Alexander Gutsan speaking with a report on the Russian experience in combating cybercrime. This was announced TASS on October 21, 2025.

The Prosecutor General spoke at the 35th meeting of the Coordination Council of the Attorneys General of the CIS countries. Alexander Gutsan noted that up to 20 million fraudulent attacks were carried out daily with the help of the seized equipment. The scale of the operation indicates the severity of the threat of telephone fraud.

In Russia, seized equipment that fraudsters used for 20 million calls per day

Representative MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Sergei Erokhin said at a hearing in the Public Chamber that Russians are constantly terrorized by more than a thousand call centers of intruders. Such enterprises are scattered throughout the near abroad, including,, Ukraine,, and Belarus Kazakhstan Tajikistan other neighboring countries.

SIM banks or SIM boxes are devices that allow you to simultaneously use multiple SIM cards to make calls, send messages or use the mobile Internet. Maxim Gryazev, an expert on the analytics and digital threat assessment service of Softline Group of Companies, explained the principle of operation of this equipment.

According to Maxim Gryazev, the equipment can automatically switch between SIM-cards to minimize the cost of calls or bypass the tariff restrictions of operators. Fraudsters use SIM boxes to disguise their activities as ordinary mobile calls, which makes it difficult to track and block illegal operations.

Maxim Gryazev explained that with the help of such equipment, criminals can make calls with a change in the caller's number. This allows them to present themselves as banks, public services or other organisations to deceive victims. Changing numbers greatly complicates the identification of the source of fraudulent calls.^[15]

In Moscow, opened the first criminal case for the transfer of telephone numbers

The investigating authorities of Moscow opened the first criminal case under the new article 274.4 of the Criminal Code of Russia "Organization of activities for the transfer of subscriber numbers in violation of the requirements of the law." The suspect entered into contracts with telecom operators on behalf of legal entities through fake powers of attorney. This was announced by RBC on October 21, 2025.

The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia announced the initiation of a case by the investigator of the Internal Affairs Directorate for the Northern Administrative District of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow. The new article of the Criminal Code entered into force on September 1, 2025 and establishes responsibility for the illegal transfer of subscriber numbers.

In the capital, the first criminal case was initiated on the fact of the transfer of telephone numbers

The suspect, a resident of Khimki, received an offer to earn money from a friend. The scheme involved visiting the offices of mobile operators to conclude contracts for the provision of services. The man acted on behalf of legal entities using fake power of attorney.

The suspect was provided with detailed instructions on actions in case of refusal of office employees to issue SIM cards. This indicates the organized nature of criminal activity and the preliminary preparation for possible obstacles.

The man passed the received subscriber numbers to unidentified third parties. For each successfully concluded contract, he was promised a reward of ₽9 thousand. The amount of payment indicates the commercial nature of illegal activities.

Law enforcement agencies detained the suspect during operational-search activities. During the search, smartphones, SIM cards and documents were seized from him, which can serve as evidence in a criminal case.

The law on responsibility for organizing the transfer of subscriber numbers in violation of the requirements of the law was approved in Russia in July 2025. The regulatory act is aimed at combating the use of telephone numbers in fraudulent schemes.

Article 274.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for various types of punishment depending on the role of the participant in criminal activity. For direct participation in the transfer of numbers, a fine of up to ₽300 thousand is provided or imprisonment for up to two years.^[16]

The courier of telephone fraudsters was sentenced in Ufa to 11 years in prison for embezzlement of ₽1,5 million

The Kalininsky District Court of Ufa sentenced a 27-year-old local resident who worked as a courier in a fraudulent scheme. The girl was found guilty of embezzlement of funds from three elderly people totaling ₽1,5 million. The court sentenced her to 11 years in prison with serving in a general regime correctional colony. The amount of damage caused was also recovered from the convict. This was announced by the prosecutor's office of the Republic of Bashkortostan on October 3, 2025.

The defendant was found guilty under Part 3 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of Russia. This article provides for liability for large-scale fraud committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy.

In Ufa, a courier who participated in telephone fraud was sentenced to 11 years in prison for stealing an amount of 1.5 million rubles

The court found that in August 2024, the girl got a job as a courier through a messenger. Unidentified persons made calls to the elderly. They presented themselves as law enforcement officers and reported false information about traffic accidents that occurred with the participation of relatives of the victims. The callers argued about the need to transfer funds to resolve the issue of prosecution.

As a result of the actions of the criminal group, three victims handed over money to the courier. The girl personally received money from citizens and handed it over to the organizers of the scheme. The role of the courier was to directly contact victims of fraud and withdraw cash from them.

The defendant pleaded guilty to committing crimes. She was previously convicted of a drug trafficking crime. The court took into account the earlier sentence when sentencing. The existence of an outstanding criminal record influenced the term of imprisonment in the new case.

A fraudulent scheme using calls on behalf of law enforcement agencies remains a common way to steal money from citizens. Criminals exploit people's fear for their loved ones and trust in government officials. Older citizens are particularly vulnerable to such manipulation because of the excitement for relatives.^[17]

Detention in the Moscow region of alleged accomplices of Ukrainian call centers, which cashed out ₽10 million every day

Law enforcement officers detained two men in Kolomna near Moscow on suspicion of assisting telephone fraudsters from Ukrainian call centers, who processed a cash turnover of about ₽10 million daily through a cashing system, conversion to cryptocurrency and further transfer of funds received from the victims. The suspects organized a round-the-clock office in a rented apartment in Odintsovo for uninterrupted cash withdrawals at ATMs. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on September 18, 2025.

According to RBC, the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Irina Volk announced the preliminary data of the investigation that two alleged organizers of the criminal business attracted their acquaintances to the activities. The detainees provided services for receiving, cashing, converting funds into cryptocurrency and subsequent transfer of money from victims of fraud.

In the Moscow region detained alleged accomplices of Ukrainian call centers. They cashed in ₽10 million every day

During operational measures, law enforcement officers seized a large number of mobile phones, bank cards and several computers. The video recording of the operation shows the moment of detention of suspects in apartments and the discovery of technical means for carrying out illegal activities.

The investigating authorities established that the criminal group used bank cards issued for foreign citizens, which in advance issued notarized powers of attorney to one of the participants to manage bank accounts. This scheme made it possible to withdraw cash even if the bank security services blocked the account.

The wolf explained that the organized system worked around the clock, ensuring the readiness of accomplices at any time of the day to cash out the funds received by criminal means. Continuity of operations was critical to maintaining the operation of Ukrainian fraudulent call centers.

Law enforcement officers took to the trail of the attackers during the investigation of two episodes of fraud against residents of the Moscow region. In the first case, the swindlers turned to the victim on behalf of his son and demanded to urgently transfer more than ₽247 thousand to solve the alleged problems.

In the second episode, the victim of the crime was the mother of a participant in a special military operation. The fraudster via video link introduced himself as a colleague of her son, announced the capture of the serviceman and promised to organize the opportunity to communicate with him for ₽30 thousand. After receiving the funds, the attacker stopped any contacts.^[18]

Dozens of call centers closed in Russia due to a new law obliging companies to label mass challenges

The Association of Research Companies "Group 7/89" received 18 applications for the closure of call centers throughout the country. The centers helped conduct sociological surveys, but were unable to work after the new call labeling rules came into force. Organizations ceased activities in Perm, Novosibirsk, Tomsk and Vladimir. The Association sent appeals to President Vladimir Putin and Chairman of the United Russia Party, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev in September 2025. Read more here

Banks declare threat of "almost complete paralysis" of communication with customers due to blocking calls

National Financial Market Council (NSFR) in a letter to the chairman CENTRAL BANK OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION Elvira Nabiullina and prime minister Mikhail Mishustin said that the financial market has developed a pre-crisis situation due to the blocking of calls to customers. The reason for this is the new norms of the legislation on and, fighting spam telephone scammers transfers September 18, 2025 with Forbes reference to, RBC which managed to get acquainted with the letter of the NSFR.

The changes made to the law "On Communications" entered into force on September 1, 2025. The association's letter speaks of the threat of "almost complete paralysis" of the interaction of financial institutions of all kinds "with their clients. According to the NSFR, such a "pre-crisis situation" is accompanied by a "sharp and system-wide increase in the level of costs of financial institutions for communication services."

Since the beginning of autumn, banks can make mass calls to their customers only if they receive prior consent from them. Subscribers themselves can refuse mass calls through their personal account on the website of the mobile operator or in the application. From September 1, operators were also obliged to label incoming calls from legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, and banks - to pay mobile operators for the service of organizing mass calls and for issuing a label when marking them.

However, as the head of the NSFR Andrei Emelin clarified to the publication, mobile operators did not have time to fully prepare for the implementation of the new norms. Operators have already begun blocking calls, but their labeling has not been implemented, which, in turn, makes it impossible for the initiator of the call to receive the consent of the subscriber.

As noted in the NSFR letter, mobile operators, based on their own risk models, block about 30% of calls between banks and their customers. At the same time, the sphere of anti-fraud suffered the most, when banks call their customers to confirm the transaction, if they have doubts about its legality, as well as the scope of recovery, Emelin noted. The blocking includes calls to debtors from banks, microfinance organizations and collectors with a reminder that the loan repayment date is approaching.

About 90% of borrowers, according to banks, immediately make loan payments after such reminders, said Emelin. Blocking calls can lead to an increase in delays and risks of fraudulent transactions, the letter says. Financial organizations have actually lost the opportunity for telephone communication with their clients before obtaining consent from each of them - such consent cannot be requested in telephone form and it is difficult to claim from the most problematic clients, the document says.

According to the head of the NSFR, banks are also concerned about spending on compliance with new standards: payment for one call on average in the market is 0.24 rubles for one of the services (mass call or label), that is, banks will have to pay a double amount. According to financiers, the introduction of labels will cost businesses about 11 billion rubles a year at a mass call price of 0.2 rubles.

Together with the complaints, the NSFR sent a number of proposals to the Central Bank and the Government of the Russian Federation to finalize amendments to the law "On Communications":

• consider as massive only calls with non-personalized information that are identical in purpose and content and exclude calls from banks that are made in accordance with the requirements of the Central Bank, the rules of the National Payment Card System and in accordance with the client agreement;
• to empower the government to establish the maximum permissible amount of fees for the provision of services by telecom operators for marking calls and making mass calls in agreement with the Central Bank, and to make such calls free of charge before setting the limit;
• charge the telecom operator funds if, due to unreasonable blocking of the bank's call, his client carried out an operation under the influence of fraudsters, in the amount of such an operation.^[19]

Mobile subscribers in Russia can now completely block calls from abroad

On September 5, 2025, it became known that mobile subscribers in Russia were able to completely block incoming calls from numbers unregistered in the country through a free function in the Defender service from MTS. The new technology analyzes the parameters of incoming connections and prevents blocking bypass through route masking, determining the real source of the call even when attackers try to hide the origin of the call. Defender product director Andrei Biychuk noted that the additional function allows users to completely exclude unwanted and potentially fraudulent calls from abroad.

According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the introduction of the function is associated with the expectation of an increase in fraudulent calls through the networks of foreign operators after the start of the Antifrod system and restrictions on the use of replacement numbers. Biychuk emphasized the low efficiency of blocking individual numbers and the need for an integrated approach to protecting subscribers.

Russians can now completely block phone calls from abroad

Similar protection systems are provided by other large telecom operators, but mainly on a commercial basis. Megaphone offers blocking unwanted calls from the virtual assistant "Eva," T2 provides a free service "Antispam for calls," and Beeline provides three levels of protection: warning, spam protection and full protection.

The Ministry of Digital Development on August 26, 2025 announced the inclusion of a requirement for operators to provide the possibility of self-recording on calls from abroad in the second package of measures against cyber fraudsters. This initiative is aimed at the systemic fight against telephone fraud.

Defender technology is able to determine the source of the call regardless of attempts to mask the route, which increases the effectiveness of protection against modern telephone fraud methods. The system works in automatic mode and does not require additional actions from the user after activation.^[20]

Russians can now install a self-lock on the Public services for the design of additional SIM-cards

On September 1, 2025, the provisions of the law on combating telephone fraud came into force, providing citizens of the Russian Federation with the opportunity to impose a self-lock on the conclusion of cellular communications contracts. You can establish a ban through the portal "Public services" or the MPSC. When issuing a new SIM card, telecom operators are obliged to check for such a ban by sending a request to a single identification and authentication system integrated with Public services.

The ban on concluding contracts with telecom operators means that no one will be able to conclude a mobile contract on your behalf - neither you nor the scammers. After setting the ban, you can buy a new SIM card, but it cannot be activated by concluding an agreement in your name. Previously executed contracts will continue to operate, phone numbers will remain unchanged.

Russians got the opportunity to install a self-lock on the design of SIM cards

Procedure for installing self-locks on "Public services":

• Go to Personal Account > Profile > SIM Cards. The section is available for all citizens from the age of 14 who have a confirmed account
• In the block "Prohibition on execution of communication contracts" click "Install"
• In the window that opens, click "Set prohibition"
• Send Request

The ban will be set within 1 day. Its status can be checked in your personal account: Profile > SIM cards

You can also establish a ban at the MPSC. Take your passport and SNILS with you

How to lift the ban

Contact the MPSC office with a passport and SNILS. The ban will be lifted within 1 day. Its status can be checked in your personal account: Profile > SIM cards

It is impossible to lift the ban on "Public services."

In Bashkiria, the alleged organizers of the group were arrested, which illegally withdrew billions of fraudulent call centers and crypto exchanges abroad

At the end of August 2025, the Leninsky District Court of Ufa placed the brothers Azamat and Arslan Kuvatov, suspected of organizing a criminal community for the illegal circulation of means of payment, under house arrest. According to investigators, the group transferred abroad the income of fraudulent call centers, illegal online casinos and crypto exchanges in the amount of over ₽3 billion in 2025 alone. Read more here

The Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation has prepared a second series of measures to combat telephone fraudsters

At the end of August 2025, the Ministry of Digital Development of Russia prepared a second series of measures to strengthen the protection of citizens from fraudulent actions in the digital environment. The agency posted the relevant bills on the portal of draft regulatory legal acts for public discussion. The initiatives are aimed at creating a multi-level user security system.

According to TASS, the new proposals include legislative consolidation of ways to restore access to your personal account on the Public services portal in the event of blocking due to the actions of intruders. Citizens will be able to resume access through biometric identification, mobile applications and bank sites, a national messenger or multifunctional centers.

Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation presented the second package of measures to combat telephone fraudsters

It is planned to create a unified consent platform on the public services portal, where users will see all permissions for the processing of personal data issued both in digital and offline format. This will increase the control of citizens over the dissemination of their confidential information.

The ministry proposes to strengthen the interaction of banks and telecom operators by introducing automated data exchange through the state information system "Antifrod." Coordination between financial institutions and telecommunications companies will help quickly identify suspicious activity.

As part of the new package, a mechanism for compensation for damage to citizens from fraudulent actions has been developed. If the telecom operator has not prevented the theft of funds from the subscriber's mobile account, he will be obliged to compensate for the losses. Banks will also be responsible for ignoring operators' warnings about suspicious transactions.

Subscribers will be able to set a ban on incoming calls from foreign numbers. In other cases, all international calls will be marked with a special indicator to warn users about a potential threat from foreign fraudsters.^[21]

Liquidation of a network of fraudulent call centers in Crimea, which was supervised from Ukraine

The Russian Federal Security Service, together with the police, stopped the activities of a network of communication centers in Crimea, which was used by Ukrainian fraudulent call centers to deceive Russian citizens. During the operation, two alleged organizers of the criminal scheme who arrived in the region from the Republic of Tatarstan were detained. This was announced on August 22, 2025 by the press service of the FSB department for the republic and Sevastopol.

As Interfax reports with reference to the statement of the department, the detained men born in 1988 and 2005 acted on the instructions of Ukrainian curators and rented apartments in Simferopol to accommodate special telecommunication equipment. SIM boxes were used to make fraudulent calls to Russian subscribers.

FSB liquidated a network of fraudulent call centers in Crimea, which was supervised from Ukraine

The main duties of the detainees were to ensure uninterrupted operation of the equipment, regular purchase of SIM-cards and their daily replacement. For the implementation of this activity, the organizers received $600 weekly from Ukrainian curators, as well as compensation for the cost of renting residential premises.

When examining the premises that were used to accommodate the equipment, intelligence officers seized the technical equipment of the criminal scheme. The list of confiscated property includes three 32-port SIM boxes, 11 GSM gateways, two laptop computers, eight mobile phones and over 800 SIM cards of various telecom operators.

The investigation identified other persons who assisted the organizers in ensuring the functioning of virtual communication nodes. Among the members of the criminal group, two minors aged 15 and 17 were identified, who were also involved in illegal activities.

The fraudulent scheme involved the receipt of calls to Russian citizens from abroad through the created network of communication nodes. The attackers introduced themselves as employees of mobile operators and, under various pretexts, gained access to citizens' personal accounts on the public services portal.^[22]

Central Bank introduced limits on cash withdrawals at ATMs

From September 1, 2025, the Central Bank of Russia introduces restrictions on the issuance of cash through ATMs when signs of fraudulent operations are detected. If at least one of the nine established criteria for suspicious activity is found, banks are obliged to notify customers and limit cash withdrawals to ₽50 thousand per day for 48 hours. The new rules were published by the regulator on August 22, 2025. Read more here

Permission for investigators in the Russian Federation to suspend money transfers without a court decision: a new measure to combat telephone fraudsters

On September 1, 2025, a new article 115.2 of the Criminal Code comes into force in Russia, regulating the temporary restriction of transactions with cash, including electronic money and advance payments for communication services. It is aimed at combating telephone fraud.

According to the new provisions, within the framework of pre-trial proceedings, the investigator (with the approval of the head of the investigative body) or the investigator (with the consent of the prosecutor) will be able to block financial transactions for up to 10 days. In particular, they have access to:

• suspension of expenditure transactions on bank accounts (deposits, deposits);
• prohibition of cash withdrawals, debits or account closure (including transactions through ATMs and payment terminals);
• Block the reduction of e-money balances
• prohibition on the return of advance payments for communication services.

Investigators in the Russian Federation were allowed to suspend money transfers without a court decision

As specified on the website of the Office of the Prosecutor General's Office for the North-Western Federal District, the basis for applying the measures is sufficient data indicating that the funds were received as a result of criminal activity. At the same time, the withdrawal or transfer of money for storage is not provided - the restriction applies only within the credited amount.

It is noted that the blocking decree is subject to immediate execution by financial organizations, electronic money and mobile operators. Within 48 hours before the expiration of the suspension period, the investigator (interrogator) is obliged to apply to the court with a petition for seizure of funds, if grounds remain for this.

Lidings AB partner Dmitry Kirillov believes that the new rules provide for a short response time from banks, but they may not be enough, since from the moment of theft to the moment of withdrawal of funds by fraudsters abroad or in cash account goes literally for hours.

Nevertheless, even such measures can make it easier for the investigation to return at least part of the victims of the money stolen from them, Kirillov added.[23][24]!

Mandatory labeling of all calls made from numbers of legal entities and entrepreneurs is launched in Russia

From September 1, 2025, new rules for the mandatory labeling of calls from subscriber numbers - legal entities or individual entrepreneurs are being introduced in Russia. This measure is aimed at countering telephone fraud.

In Russia, mandatory identification of calls from corporate numbers and individual entrepreneur numbers is introduced

In accordance with Federal Law No. 41-FZ of April 1, 2025, the operator from whose communication network a telephone call is initiated is obliged to transmit to user equipment information about the subscriber who initiated the connection in the terms, procedure, composition and format established by the Government of the Russian Federation. Such information includes, but is not limited to:

• Full or short name of the legal entity or individual entrepreneur or trademark (if any);
• Calling category (for example, "offering goods," "consulting and audit," "culture and entertainment," "public organization," etc.) - a total of more than 35 categories are provided;
• Additional data related to the activity of the call originator.

Information about the organization is transmitted to the user equipment (terminal equipment) in text format and does not exceed 32 characters, including numbers, lowercase and uppercase letters of the Cyrillic or Latin alphabet. It is necessary to transfer such information to mobile operators on the basis of the information display agreement. If the user device does not have the technical ability to display the organization data, the transfer of the specified information is carried out by the mobile radiotelephone operator at a separate request of the subscriber. The new requirements are designed to reduce the risks of telephone fraud, as they will help to reliably inform subscribers about the call initiator.^[25]

The sentence to a telephone fraudster in Yekaterinburg is 8 years in a maximum security colony for theft of 20.5 million rubles

The Verkh-Isetsky District Court of Yekaterinburg sentenced Artur Baturov to 8 years in prison in a maximum security correctional colony, finding him guilty of fraud against pensioners in the amount of more than 20.5 million rubles. This was reported in July 2025 by the press service of the prosecutor's office of the Sverdlovsk region. Baturov deceived the elderly by telling them false information about attempts to steal money from bank accounts. Then he urged to transfer the money to a "bank employee" to save it in a "safe account."^[26]

Disclosure of telephone fraud under the guise of Microsoft technical support

Indian law enforcement agencies have eliminated a transnational cybercriminal group that carried out large-scale telephone fraud under the guise of technical support. Microsoft The operation called "Chakra V" was carried out in July 2025 and became part of an international investigation against the network that deceived citizens Great Britain and. Australia The damage from the actions of the group in Britain exceeded £390 thousand, more than 100 people were injured. This was reported in the Central Bureau of Investigation. India

According to the bureau, one of the key points of the fraudulent infrastructure was in the city of Noida in the Special Economic Zone. A fully functioning false call center called FirstIdea was identified and stopped here. As a result of the raids, two people were detained, including one of the main operators of the network.

Biggest phone scam revealed in 2025

The center used modern call routing technologies, malicious scripts and VoIP infrastructure. This made it possible to hide the origin of the calls and massively attack victims outside India. Fraudsters used number substitution, and calls were routed through several countries to complicate source tracking. They began the conversation with their wives with the words "Hello, I'm from Microsoft support."

The operation was reportedly planned with the time zones of the victim countries in mind. This made it possible to catch intruders at the time of active calls - live conversations with deceived citizens were recorded. The criminals appeared to be employees of large IT companies, including Microsoft.

The victims were told about the alleged hacking of their devices, after which they were imposed paid services to eliminate non-existent threats. Victims were reportedly forced to pay to "repair" computers after false pop-ups about infecting systems, according to Britain's National Crime Agency.^[27]

SBU bribes, kickbacks and crypt: Hackers revealed the scheme of work of Ukrainian call centers

On July 16, 2025, it became known that hackers hacked into corporate chats of Ukrainian call centers, whose employees are engaged in telephone fraud. The victims are citizens of Russia and the CIS countries.

According to the Telegram channel Mash, hackers received personal information about Ukrainian cybercriminals, including their photos and addresses. In addition, information has been disclosed about the accomplices of the attackers in Russia - the so-called drops. These are dummies to whose account the stolen funds are credited. After receiving the stolen money, the drop removes it in cash at an ATM and transfers it to another partner in the fraud or transfers it to another bank account.

SBU bribes, kickbacks and cryptocurrency: Hackers revealed the mechanism of functioning of Ukrainian call centers

It is noted that one of the youngest fraudulent cells is located in. Its To Odessa organizer is a 19-year-old local resident who attracted accomplices in messenger ads. The victims of the attackers were citizens of Russia,, and Uzbekistan. Tajikistan Kazakhstan The total income for a short period of work is estimated at 50 million. rubles

In personal correspondence, admins communicate exclusively in Russian, boast of achievements and discuss the kickbacks of the SBU [Security Service of Ukraine]. They do not really want to pay, but it is necessary - firstly, a bribe will free them from conscription. Secondly, if you do not pay, the call center will be closed, - says the publication Mash.

It also turned out that drop bank cards were used to convert stolen money into cryptocurrency. After that, the funds were transferred to Ukraine. Hackers sent information about accomplices of fraudsters in Russia to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB.

In mid-June 2025, Deputy Chairman of the Board Sberbank Stanislav Kuznetsov said TASS that about 2 million Russians were involved in dropper activities. Moreover, many of them are not even aware of this. Sberbank and some other major ones banks are actively fighting drops.^[28]

In the Leningrad region revealed the mass supply of thousands of SIM cards for fraudulent call centers

A large-scale scheme for the supply of thousands of SIM cards for the needs of foreign fraudulent call centers was disclosed in the Leningrad Region by employees of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for St. Petersburg and the region. The criminal activity was organized by the head of a company registered in the Vsevolozhsk region and which had an official contract with mobile operators. This was announced on June 25, 2025 by the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Irina Volk. Read more here

In the Novosibirsk region, telephone scammers received 8-9 years of strict regime

The terms of imprisonment from eight to nine years in a maximum security colony were appointed by the Toguchinsky District Court of the Novosibirsk Region to three defendants in a criminal case of telephone fraud. Convicts, being in places of imprisonment, organized a scheme to deceive citizens, causing damage in the amount of over ₽948 thousand. The judgment was delivered in June 2025. Read more here.

Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation will ban flashing smartphones

At the end of June 2025, it became known that Ministry of Digital Development RUSSIAN FEDERATION it had developed a bill prohibiting changing the international identifier of mobile equipment (). IMEI This measure is aimed at combating cybercrime.

According to the Izvestia newspaper, the document prohibits IMEI substitution. If there are signs of unreliability of information about the identifier or the commission of illegal manipulations with IMEI, the relevant information will be sent to the state information system for combating offenses. What sanctions will be applied to persons changing IMEI is not specified.

The Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation will ban the flashing of smartphones

According to Karen Ghazaryan, director of the Institute for Internet Research, cybercriminals are also involved in IMEI substitution. This allows attackers to hide the device that was used in the implementation of a particular fraudulent scheme. Mobile device identifiers are falsified by owners of SIM boxes that serve for spam calls, mailings, etc. Thanks to the IMEI change, cybercriminals can hide their devices from operators and banks.

The Ministry of Digital Development bill also provides for the creation of a database of mobile devices and blacklists of unique numbers. The innovations are expected to block stolen or illegally imported into. Russia smartphones

Megafon believes that the creation of such an information system, maintaining its functioning and ensuring the exchange of information with mobile operators is an "organizationally difficult event." Igor Bederov, director of the investigation department at T.Hunter, says that a ban on changing IMEI would be one of the effective tools to combat cybercrime. However, he said, it is technically difficult to understand that IMEI has been changed.^[29]

Publication of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia documentary on the activities of Ukrainian cybercriminals

In mid-June 2025, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia presented a documentary on the activities of fraudulent call centers located in Ukraine. In particular, the tape tells about a criminal organization called StrongCall.

As noted, cybercriminal call centers are usually engaged in various types of fraud: these can be financial scams, phishing, selling fake services, etc. Criminals pose as employees of well-known companies, government agencies or law enforcement agencies. At the same time, complex multi-stage schemes can be implemented, designed to lull the vigilance of potential victims.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia published a documentary on the activities of Ukrainian cybercriminals

The presented film of the Ministry of Internal Affairs says that StrongCall attackers are actively interacting with the security forces of Ukraine. Cybercriminals call themselves "Kyiv Tigers." They use trendy coworking instead of shabby offices and youth slang instead of criminal jargon. The film reveals the names of StrongCall members and certain details of their lives. For example, it is said that they drink smoothies, wear oversize and shoot videos on TikTok. In addition, the fraudsters' own developments are demonstrated - a computer application, a fake ID generator and the so-called "Bible" - instructions from swindlers.

In general, the level of telephone fraud in Russia is growing. According to Kaspersky Lab, in the first quarter of 2025, compared to the same period in 2024, the share of Russian users who faced classic calls with suspected fraud from unknown numbers increased by almost 3% and amounted to 43%. At the same time, the proportion of users who received calls from attackers on WhatsApp increased by about 3.5 times.^[30]

GIS launched in Russia to promptly exchange information between banks, telecom operators and government agencies in order to combat cyber fraudsters

In Russia, from June 4, 2025, the implementation of a pilot project on the operational interaction of state bodies, banks and telecom operators to combat cyber fraud will begin. The platform for such interaction will be the created state information system for countering violations in the field of information technology. The corresponding order was signed by the Russian government on May 28, 2025. Read more here

New practice in the fight against fraud - banks began to ask customers to come to the bank branch with relatives to unfreeze accounts

On May 14, 2025, it became known that Russian banks introduced a new practice in the fight against fraud - to unlock accounts frozen due to suspicious transactions, financial organizations began to demand that customers come to branches accompanied by relatives. Such measures are applied even in cases where customers did not connect the "second hand" service and did not give consent to attract relatives to control their financial transactions.

According to Izvestia, a client of Alfa-Bank from Moscow faced a similar situation, who issued an inappropriate loan and tried to transfer money to her account in another financial organization. The operation was suspended, and after talking with a bank employee, access to the account was completely frozen. To unblock, she was required not only to personally visit the department, but also to bring her son with her. During the proceedings, a salary came to the blocked account, and interest was charged on the issued loan.

Russian banks began to ask customers to come to the bank branch with relatives to unfreeze accounts

The Association for the Development of Financial Literacy (ARFG) confirmed that they are aware of such cases. Pavel Nikitin, an expert at the ProFiT project at ARFG, explained that such requirements can be presented in atypical situations when the bank sees risks for the client. For example, a non-standard case is considered when an elderly person draws up a loan or credit card and begins to transfer money through a mobile bank. A similar situation arises in case of early termination of a deposit with loss of interest and subsequent transfer of funds to other banks.

Judicial lawyer Ilya Vasilchuk explained that usually the movement of money is checked in three stages: first, all operations are analyzed by special algorithms in automatic mode; when the payment looks suspicious, it is sent to the bank employee for manual verification; if questions remain, the customer may be called or sent a request for confirmation.^[31]

The Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation published the rules for marking telephone calls from legal entities

In May 2025 Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Russia , he presented for public discussion a draft rules for marking phone calls from legal entities. The document was developed in pursuance of the law of April 1, 2025 No. 41-FZ and is aimed at reducing the risks of telephone fraud by reliably informing subscribers about the call initiator.

The draft resolution Ministry of Digital Development states that information about the organization making the call should consist of three main elements. The first element is the full or abbreviated name of a legal entity or individual entrepreneur, or a trademark, if any. The second element is the telephone call category. The third is additional information related to the activities of the organization.

The Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation has published norms regarding the marking of telephone calls from legal entities

Information about the organization in text format should not exceed 32 characters, including numbers, lowercase and uppercase letters of the Cyrillic or Latin alphabet. This limitation is due to the technical capabilities of displaying information on the screens of mobile devices.

According to the draft rules, before a telephone call is made by a subscriber - a legal entity or an individual entrepreneur - the initiating operator or his subscriber must provide one of the mobile radiotelephone operators, on the network of which telephone calls will be completed, with all the necessary information about the organization indicating the list of subscriber numbers from which such telephone calls will be made.

The document defines 38 categories of telephone calls initiated by legal entities and individual entrepreneurs:

1. Emergency service.
2. Auto service and maintenance.
3. Rent and rent.
4. Bank.
5. Visa Application Center.
6. State organization.
7. hotels.
8. Delivery.
9. Leisure.
10. Food.
11. Plant and enterprise.
12. Ordering a taxi.
13. Investments.
14. Cafes and restaurants.
15. Cleaning.
16. Collectors.
17. Utilities.
18. Consulting and auditing.
19. Credits.
20. Culture & Entertainment.
21. Shops and services.
22. Medicine.
23. Scientific organizations.
24. Real estate.
25. Education.
26. Public organization.
27. Recreation and tourism.
28. Security.
29. Police.
30. Job offer.
31. Offer items.
32. Offer services.
33. Beauty salon.
34. Communication and Internet.
35. ER.
36. MEDIA.
37. Social polling.
38. Social service.^[32]

Detention of 15 organisers of AI phone fraud

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB in March 2025 detained 15 people involved in the creation of communication infrastructure used for telephone fraud. As the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Irina Volk said in April 2025, the special operation took place in 11 regions of Russia with the participation of law enforcement officers and using artificial intelligence technologies.

According to RBC, investigators managed to collect data on 7 thousand subscriber numbers that were used by swindlers, as well as on 28 SIM boxes and two SIM banks operating in five regions of Russia. To administer and unite SIM boxes, criminals used virtual servers registered in European countries.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB with the help of AI detained 15 organizers of telephone fraud

The representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs stressed that artificial intelligence technologies used to process large amounts of data played a significant role in identifying offenders. These technologies made it possible to calculate the location of the networks used by the attackers, as well as collect the information necessary for the investigation about their activities.

Searches and detentions were carried out on the territory of the Amur, Bryansk, Lipetsk, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Rostov, Smolensk and Yaroslavl regions, as well as in the Republic of Chuvashia, the Republic of Bashkortostan and the Stavropol Territory.

During the operation, several thousand SIM cards of various mobile operators and documentation were seized from the suspects. Currently, criminal cases under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud) are being investigated against the detainees.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, in 2024, fraudsters stole ₽27,5 billion from Russians from bank accounts, which is 74.4% higher than in 2023. These statistics highlight the scale of the problem of telephone and cyber fraud in the country.

In retaliation, on April 1, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law aimed at strengthening the protection of citizens from cyber fraud. New legislative mechanisms combined with the application of modern technology will allow law enforcement agencies to more effectively combat telephone fraudsters.^[33]

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on countering telephone fraudsters

On April 1, 2025, it became known that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on measures to combat cyber fraud, aimed at protecting citizens from telephone and network fraudulent schemes. The document is posted on the official portal of legal information and includes a set of measures affecting the work of banks, instant messengers and telecom operators.

The new law introduces a number of mechanisms to control suspicious banking operations. According to the adopted document, the credit institution is obliged to provide the client with the opportunity to appoint a third party as an authorized representative to confirm operations for transferring funds from bank accounts to third parties, as well as operations for withdrawing cash.

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Such a transaction shall be confirmed or rejected by an authorized person no later than 12 hours from the date of receipt of the notification, unless a shorter period is provided for in the agreement between the bank and the client. This mechanism creates an additional layer of protection for bank account and card holders.

Banks that issue payment cards to customers are also charged with the obligation to check cash withdrawals through ATMs for signs of fraudulent actions. Signs of such cases will be determined by the Bank of Russia and posted on its official website. If suspicious activity is detected, the bank is obliged to limit the issuance of cash to ₽50 thousand per day for a period of 48 hours and immediately notify the client.

More serious restrictions are provided for cases when information about suspicious transactions comes from the Bank of Russia database. In such situations, the bank is obliged to limit the issuance of cash using ATMs to ₽100 thousand per month.

The law also introduces significant restrictions on the use of foreign messengers. State bodies, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, professional securities market participants, insurance companies, microfinance organizations and other financial institutions are prohibited from using instant messengers owned by foreign legal entities or citizens.^[34]

The Ministry of Internal Affairs covered the network of communication nodes that replaced the numbers for stealing codes from "Public services"

and MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Russia FSB identified and suppressed the activities of the network of communication nodes used to replace telephone numbers in order to steal access codes to "" and To Public services issue microloans. According to law enforcement agencies, the criminal scheme was organized by order of fraudsters with. Ukraine The operation to eliminate illegal infrastructure was carried out in March 2025, information about it was published on March 20.

According to TASS, the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Irina Volk said that criminals from abroad called citizens and, under the pretext of extending the contract with a mobile operator, lured out access codes to the Public services application.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs stopped the activities of the network of replacement communication nodes, which were used to steal access codes to "Public services"

After gaining access to the personal accounts of citizens, fraudsters issued microloans on behalf of residents of Russia. To return the borrowed funds, they demanded to transfer the money to the so-called safe accounts.

Operational development was carried out for several months. In January 2025, the police determined that the mobile phones of the swindlers were registered in Tatarstan. Then the places of residence of two visitors from other regions were established, who arrived in the republic at the direction of an anonymous curator.

Young people rented apartments, installed the equipment transferred to them for changing numbers to Russian ones, ensured its configuration and replacement of blocked sim-cards. In the future, the police went on the trail of other participants in the illegal network. It was previously established that the criminal business was organized by two residents of the city of Cheboksary.

Irina Volk noted that at the direction of foreign accomplices, they recruited those who wanted to earn money on ads in the messenger. Also, young people bought and delivered equipment and sim-cards, instructed accomplices and transferred remuneration.

An official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that searches were carried out at the identified addresses, during which 12 sim-banks, more than 2.7 thousand sim-cards, computer equipment, communication equipment and other items of evidentiary importance were seized.

On the facts of criminal activity, criminal cases were initiated and investigated under the article on fraud (Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).^[35]

In Russia, a law was adopted on the mandatory labeling of phone calls with the display of the name of the organization

March 18, 2025 State Duma RUSSIAN FEDERATION passed a bill aimed at protecting citizens from telephone and cyber fraudsters. We are talking about the mandatory labeling of all phone calls of companies, including mass ones.

The explanatory note to the bill states that the most characteristic methods of committing crimes in the field of information and communication technologies include various methods of fraud related to calls on behalf of bank employees, law enforcement agencies, etc. One of the factors contributing to the commission of such atrocities is the lack of awareness of cellular subscribers about receiving a telephone call made via the Internet or coming from a foreign state.

In Russia, a law has been approved obliging to label phone calls with the name of the organization

In order to solve the problem, mandatory labeling of calls from organizations and calls from international numbers is introduced. When a call comes in, the user will see a label on the smartphone screen with the name of the company that initiated the call. Thus, the subscriber will be able to understand that an official representative of a bank or other organization is calling him.

Under the new rules, companies will have to provide the telecom operator with complete and reliable information about calls, including mass ones. The subscriber will be able to refuse such calls and file a complaint with the operator if the calls continue. The initiative will help in identifying potentially unwanted or dangerous calls - fraudulent calls will not be marked.

Subscribers will also be able to block all incoming calls from foreign numbers through their cellular operator. In addition, the bill provides for the possibility of refusing to receive mailings. For citizens, the possibility of establishing a ban on concluding contracts for the provision of mobile communications services without personal presence is also introduced.^[36]

State IT systems of anti-phishing and anti-fraud will appear in Russia

The State Duma received bill No. 842276-8^[37] "On the creation of state information systems for combating offenses (crimes) committed using information and telecommunication technologies, and on amending certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation, "which determines the creation of two new state information systems (GosIS) aimed at protecting Russian citizens from fraud. The bill involves the creation of two new intersectoral services:

• GosIS, designed to identify information disseminated in order to abuse trust by misleading, as well as to ensure interaction when restricting access to this information (let's call it "Anti-phishing");
• GosIS, designed to counter offenses (crimes) committed using information and telecommunication technologies (let's call it "Antifrod").

"The realizability of the tasks of protecting citizens from fraud using the proposed GosIS is ambiguous," said Marina Probets, an Internet analyst and expert at Gazinformservice. - On the one hand, a system for identifying information disseminated for abuse can potentially effectively combat phishing, malware and misinformation, which are important tools for scammers. An anti-TEC offending system can help track and curb fraudulent schemes, particularly those that use social engineering and trust manipulation. However, success will largely depend on the technical implementation of the systems, the quality of the data on which they will work, and the effectiveness of interaction with law enforcement agencies. '

She explained to TAdviser that there are risks of false positives, insufficient responsiveness and the ability to bypass systems by attackers. In addition, effectiveness depends on how fully and timely information about fraudulent schemes will be received by these systems.

The norms of the bill under discussion provide for a change in the following laws: No. 40-FZ "On the FSB," No. 144-FZ "On operational-search activities" (ORD), No. 17-FZ "On banks and banking activities," No. 57-FZ "On state protection," No. 115-FZ "On countering legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime and the financing of terrorism, "No. 86-FZ" On the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Bank of Russia), "No. 126-FZ" On Communications, "No. 218-FZ" On Credit Histories, "No. 149-FZ" On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection, "No. 151-FZ" On Microfinance Activities and Microfinance Organizations, "No. 403-FZ" On the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, "No. Z-FZ" On Police, "No. 572-FZ" On Identification and (or) Authentication of Individuals... "and even No. 38-F3" On Advertising. "

This list shows that the laws governing law enforcement, banking and the communications industry are changing. These changes will be aimed at maximizing the involvement of law enforcement agencies in operational participation in work with the GosIS being created. That is why for the legalization of the activities of the above systems, it was necessary to adopt a separate federal law and conduct it through the State Duma, and not do with resolutions at the level of the Government of the Russian Federation, such as the creation of a unified system for managing impersonal personal data.

Systems can become an effective tool if you use AI to analyze data - from social networks to financial transactions, - Vitaly Gorbenko, CEO of KoinKIT, described to TAdviser the state of affairs. - For example, identifying patterns of fraud like phishing or identity theft is possible with high-quality integration with banks and operators. However, the Internet is huge, and the concept of "abuse" is subjective, which complicates the task. Foreign experience, such as the American approach to cybercrime (CISA), shows that without partnership with the private sector, efficiency is declining. In Russia, this may be a challenge, but with a competent configuration of GosIS, the risks of financial scams will be reduced.

Work on Bill No. 842276-8 was assigned to the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications, which should submit it for priority consideration in the spring session by April this year. It is assumed that its first reading will take place in April this year. The bill itself states that the Antifishing system should work from September 2025, Antifrod - from January 1, 2026, and some of the provisions related to the processing of biometric personal data are attributed to June 1, 2026. Thus, in the spring session, lawmakers expect to pass this bill, and by the end of the year - to begin its implementation.

The creation of centralized systems to identify illegal information and counter digital crimes can significantly strengthen state control in the field of cybersecurity, - Pavel Karasev, business partner of Computer Technologies, commented on the situation to TAdviser. - Such platforms are potentially capable of analyzing large amounts of data, identifying fraudulent schemes, blocking dangerous content and coordinating the work of law enforcement agencies. Similar systems are already used in other countries, but their effectiveness depends on the accuracy of the algorithms and the quality of the data with which they work. The new requirements will have a particularly strong impact on small and medium-sized businesses, which are more difficult to adapt to new regulations and ensure high standards of information protection.

Kirill Levin, CEO of Nlabteam, noted that this is a long-overdue bill, since fraud has already grown from single calls to a multi-billion dollar business, and individual companies are simply not able to protect their customers. He believes that the measures listed in the law are quite well worked out and will make it possible to comprehensively cope with the following problems:

• Mandatory call marking - users will be able to see who is actually calling: bank or fraudster;
• Duty to inform the subscriber about international calls - additional information to understand the context of the conversation;
• Restriction on the ban on representatives of banks, government agencies and telecom operators to communicate through foreign messengers - it will be easier to distinguish fraudulent calls or messages;
• Identification and authentication of users using a single biometric system - will reduce the risk of using fake documents;
• The possibility of setting a ban on concluding contracts without personal presence - no one can register a SIM card or get a loan without the participation of customers;
• Regulation of work with virtual PBXs and SIM-boxes - guarantees of detection of those responsible for a phone call, at least within the framework of ORD;
• Automatic monitoring of suspicious activity - timely informing citizens about attempts to manipulate them.

However, such a large-scale bill, of course, can lead to some negative consequences for companies whose spheres are indicated in the bills - financial organizations and operators.

When implementing the requirements of the bill, the burden on Russian companies will be significant, especially for small businesses, for example, for small microcredit organizations, "Mikhail Tevs, head of the legal service of Identity Management Systems (IDX), said for TAdviser. - Integration with the Unified Biometric System (UBS ) and tightening KYC procedures means additional costs for software updates, employee training and equipment purchases. All this will lead to a slowdown and reduction in the volume of loans issued. Given the situation on the MFI market, this is likely to lead to the closure of a large share of small companies and the centralization of microcredit among large players. For small market players, it seems, it would be useful to introduce "regulatory holidays" - for example, for MFIs with a turnover of less than 500 million rubles for 1-2 years after the law comes into force.

In addition, the introduction and configuration of full-fledged work created by GosIS will require a certain time both for their development and for integration with similar systems that already exist in this market.

The full implementation of the law can take a long time, and there will be a lot of criticism at the start, "says Kirill Levin. - But within a year we can expect a decrease in the volume of fraudulent operations, since the project is not written from scratch, a lot of work is underway, legislative restrictions on "cooling periods" when issuing loans have been adopted, control over the issuance of SIM-cards has been tightened. The proposed law will create a legal framework for connecting disparate methods of struggle into a single system of counteraction.

Of course, no one will guarantee that by building information systems it will be possible to completely overcome abuse and get rid of fraud. However, experts believe that the deployment of Antifishing and Antifrod systems will improve the situation with abuses of information and telecommunications technologies.

Measures to protect citizens from fraud with the help of these GosIS are feasible, - Denis Chigin, head of the technological expertise department at Softline, told TAdviser readers. However, it is not possible to talk about a complete victory over fraudsters due to the difficulty of forming an exhaustive list of such resources. Of course, even the timely shutdown of some of them will prevent a proportionate number of potential victims. There are already a number of commercial services on the market specializing in identifying fraudulent resources, and such services work quite successfully. Thus, the implementation of the requirements of legislation in this area is quite achievable.

The Government of the Russian Federation approved the mandatory labeling of Internet calls through virtual PBXs

On February 21, 2025, it became known that the Russian government approved a bill providing for the mandatory labeling of Internet calls made through virtual automatic telephone exchanges (PBXs). The measure is aimed at combating telephone fraud and improving the safety of citizens. Read more here.

The Government of the Russian Federation approved the labeling of calls to protect Russians from fraudsters

Mandatory labeling of phone calls will be introduced in Russia, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said in February 2025. The system will allow you to display information about the source of the call on the phone screens, including the name of the organization or the international virtual number.

The new system will work through the "business card" service, where users will be able to see not only the number, but also its classification: delivery, spam, scammers or other designations.

The Russian government approved the introduction of labeling of phone calls in order to protect citizens from fraudulent actions

Alexander Loshkarev, commercial director of the Neuro.net voice assistant developer, said that a call would be possible only if the contact was recorded in the phone book. Global blocking of calls from instant messengers of international numbers will significantly block such a channel of fraudulent actions.

The call marking system includes the following protection measures:

1. Display the caller category as required.
2. Automatic number classification.
3. Block suspicious calls.
4. Filter international virtual numbers.

Experts note that the adoption of the law on mandatory labeling will not affect the use of voice robots, as the technologies of dialog artificial intelligence are constantly being improved to simulate the work of a live contact center.

The president Russia Vladimir Putin , in a direct line at the end of 2024, stressed that the situation with telephone fraud is of serious concern due to the growing scale of crimes.

During the government meeting, additional measures were also discussed to counter fraudsters, including strengthening control over calls from abroad and creating a unified call verification system.

Particular attention is paid to the protection of citizens during festive periods, when fraudsters with new schemes of deception associated with fake gifts and congratulations from allegedly anonymous well-wishers are activated.^[38]

Ban on banks and officials in Russia to write to people through foreign messengers

In Russia, a ban is introduced on the use of foreign messengers to interact with citizens for public services, telecom operators and banks. This was announced in February 2025 by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. The restriction is aimed at reducing the risks of fraud associated with the impersonation of attackers as employees of these organizations. Read more here

The Ministry of Digital Development creates a "red button" to protect against scammers. It is laid down in the national project "Data Economics"

On February 5, 2025, it became known that it was Ministry of Digital Development RUSSIAN FEDERATION developing a special application to counter telephone fraud. The initiative is attended by law enforcement agencies, telecom operators Bank of Russia , and commercial credit organizations.

According to the Vedomosti newspaper, referring to the statements of the Deputy Minister of Digital Development of Russia Alexander Shoitov, a new anti-fraud platform is supposed to be created to counter cyber fraud. The relevant work is provided for by the national project "Data Economics and Digital Transformation of the State." It is planned to unite all market participants and their security solutions on the platform. The result will be the formation of a single center for combating fraud. For its work, banks and large telecom operators need to combine databases of cybercriminals.

The Ministry of Digital Development is developing a "red button" to combat fraud, included in the national project "Data Economics"

For citizens, it is planned to develop an application that will collect information about possible schemes and attempts at fraud. According to Shoitov, this application will provide an alarming "red button" for operational interaction with departments and market participants. If a person receives a telephone call from scammers, he will be able to quickly notify the Ministry of Digital Development, banks and telecom operators about this.

The initiative, in particular, is attended by Sberbank, VTB, beeline, T2 and MegaFon. The implementation of the platform will begin in 2025, and a full launch is scheduled for 2026. In the future, the system is expected to fight not only telephone and banking types of fraud, but also deepfakes. The platform, according to industry participants, can simplify the process of returning stolen funds - thanks to more effective interaction between banks and telecommunications companies.^[39]

The share of number substitution in telephone fraud decreased from 30% to 2% thanks to the Antifrod system

The inter-operator system Antifraud"" reduced the share of fraud using substitution telephony from 30% to 2% of the total number of connections in 2024, blocking more than 620 million fraudulent calls. Such data To the State Office of Public Prosecutor in led in January 2025.

According to TASS, the total number of frauds in Russia for 11 months of 2024 reached 411.6 thousand cases. The increase in the number of crimes was 3.6%, which is significantly lower than in 2023, when the increase reached 27.6%.

Thanks to the Antifrod system, the share of number substitution in telephone fraud decreased from 30% to 2%

In the crime structure, the share of fraud over five years increased from 12.6% to 23.3%. Of the total number of registered cases, 350 thousand crimes were committed using information and telecommunication technologies, which is 85% of all fraud.

Since 2022, the Anti-Phishing information system has also been operating in Russia, aimed at identifying and blocking fraudulent sites. In the first half of 2024, the Prosecutor General's Office sent more than 1.2 thousand demands to Roskomnadzor to block 60 thousand Internet resources.

The number of cybercrimes in the 11 months of 2024 increased by 7.8%. This category includes phone number swapping scams, Internet fraud and electronic payment crimes.

In 2022, the Prosecutor General's Office initiated the blocking of 11.9 thousand resources, including 5 thousand phishing sites. The introduction of modern security systems has significantly reduced the scale of telephone fraud and increased the effectiveness of combating cybercrime.

Law enforcement agencies continue to improve methods of countering fraud using information technology, developing systems for automatically blocking suspicious calls and sites.^[40]

Detection in Nizhny Novgorod of a center with equipment for replacing telephone numbers

Police officers and the FSB of Russia in January 2025 discovered an underground center in Nizhny Novgorod with equipment for replacing telephone numbers and seized more than 13.5 thousand. SIM cards of various telecom operators.

The official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Irina Volk announced the detention of a citizen from neighboring countries suspected of participating in a scheme of international fraud with theft of more than ₽550 thousand.

A center with equipment for replacing telephone numbers was covered in Nizhny Novgorod

In rented apartments, law enforcement officers found 20 SIM boxes, computer equipment and SIM cards, including foreign operators. The equipment was used to disguise international calls for Russian numbers.

According to the investigation, more than 40 fraudulent actions were committed with the help of the seized equipment. The total amount of damage is estimated at ₽10 million. In relation to the suspect, a preventive measure was chosen in the form of a recognizance not to leave.

The operation was carried out by employees of the criminal investigation department and the anti-corruption department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Nizhny Novgorod Region, together with the city police and the regional department of the FSB of Russia.

Law enforcement officers discovered an underground center during the investigation of a criminal case of remote fraud. It was established that calls were made from abroad, but thanks to special equipment they were displayed as domestic.

A criminal case was initiated against the detainee under Part 3 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud). An investigation is underway to establish all episodes of illegal activities and identify possible accomplices in the criminal scheme.

The seized SIM cards and equipment are sent for examination to establish their exact purpose and identify links with other crimes. The involvement of the detainee in similar crimes in other regions is being checked.

The case materials were sent to the investigating authorities for further investigation. Law enforcement agencies continue to work to identify and suppress such criminal schemes.^[41]

2024

Interior Ministry launched a chatbot to help victims of fraudsters

The Ministry of Internal Affairs launched an anonymous chatbot to provide consulting assistance to citizens faced with the actions of fraudsters. This was announced on December 27, 2024 by the press service of Anton Nemkin, a member of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications, with reference to the Telegram channel of the Department for Organizing the Fight against the Illegal Use of Information and Communication Technologies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Read more here.

Russia banned calling phones via the Internet in the name of fighting telephone scammers

The Government of the Russian Federation has changed the list of licenses for the provision of communication services, excluding from it the transmission of Internet data with the overlay of voice information.

According to a publication on the Government's website, this step was taken in order to limit telephone fraud. The corresponding decree No. 1898 was signed on December 26, 2024. Read more here.

Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation is preparing to introduce a ban on calls in instant messengers

The Ministry of Digital Development of Russia and Roskomnadzor are considering the possibility of limiting voice calls in instant messengers due to a sharp increase in the number of fraudulent calls. This became known on December 24, 2024. Read more here

Detention in St. Petersburg of technical specialists who served the equipment of fraudulent call centers

On December 11, 2024, it became known that the police detained four technical specialists who served equipment for fraudulent calls in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. For equipment maintenance, the suspects received about ₽10 thousand per day.

According to RBC, the suspects placed GSM gateways in rented apartments - special equipment for making fraudulent calls, ensuring the uninterrupted operation of SIM cards of mobile operators. The official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Irina Volk, confirmed that the international criminal scheme had been in effect since the beginning of 2024.

A network of specialists who served the equipment of fraudulent call centers was covered in St. Petersburg

The detainees were also engaged in registering SIM cards for foreign citizens for conspiracy, and the funds received were converted into cash and cryptocurrency. During the searches, GSM gateways, computer equipment, communications, SIM cards, crypto wallets and memory cards were seized.

The suspects were charged under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of Russia, which provides for punishment of up to 10 years in prison and fines. During the investigation, four victims of fraudsters in the Leningrad region were identified, but technical support made it possible to deceive hundreds of citizens.

The detention took place against the background of a large-scale FSB operation on December 9, 2024 to suppress the activities of an international network of fraudulent call centers. During the operation, 11 heads of call centers in Russia were detained. The criminal network deceived 100 thousand people from 50 countries, including, states European Union, and Great Britain, Japan India having received illegal income in the amount of $1 million.

The investigation continues, law enforcement agencies establish additional episodes of criminal activity and identify other victims of the actions of fraudsters.^[42]

FSB detention of fraudsters who stole millions of dollars through call centers employing 500 people

In December 2024, the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia stopped the activities of an organized criminal group that managed three offices of call centers in Moscow. Fraudsters stole tens of millions of dollars from residents of more than 20 countries.

According to RIA Novosti, call centers were part of an international network of fraudsters controlled by the wanted leader of the Khimprom organized crime group Yegor Burkin. Employees of the centers stole money under the guise of investment activities.

FSB detained fraudsters who stole millions of dollars through call centers

Among the victims are tens of thousands of citizens from, Great Britain,, Germany,, Spain,, Bulgaria,, Italy,, and Poland. A criminal case has been Serbia Turkey France Czech Republic Japan South Korea opened on the fact of fraud on an especially large scale.

During the operation, law enforcement agencies detained managers and several employees of call centers. During the searches, computer equipment and communications equipment were seized. The organized criminal group Khimprom has been operating since 2014, initially specializing in the distribution of drugs in Russia and Ukraine.

According to the agency, the group included about a thousand people, including employees of Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, deputies of the Verkhovna Rada and journalists. The leader of the organized criminal group Yegor Burkin moved to Ukraine from Russia in 2016 after the start of its development by the special services and received a Ukrainian passport.

This operation has become one of the largest to suppress the activities of international fraudulent call centers. The criminal scheme was built on the deception of investors and covered a significant part of Europe and Asia, demonstrating the high level of organization and international ties of the group.

During its existence, the organized criminal group has created an extensive network and expanded its scope from drug trafficking to financial fraud of an international scale.^[43]

FSB revealed the network of call centers of the ex-Minister of Georgia, who deceived 100 thousand people

The Federal Security Service of Russia on December 9, 2024 stopped the activities of the international network of call centers, operating under the leadership of the former Minister of Defense of Georgia David Kezerashvili. About 100 thousand people from more than 50 countries of the world suffered from the actions of fraudsters. Read more here.

The Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation is introducing a set of measures to combat telephone and Internet fraud

On November 26, 2024, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko told reporters that the Ministry of Digital Development, together with law enforcement agencies and the Bank of Russia, has developed a package of bills aimed at protecting citizens from fraudulent schemes using information technologies. We are talking about the fight against telephone and Internet fraud.

The bills contain a total of about 30 measures that cover all the most common tricks of cybercriminals. In particular, new mandatory rules for identifying and verifying the identity of users are being introduced. In addition, the possibility of online exchange of information between government agencies, banks and digital platforms is fixed. It is assumed that automatic monitoring will allow almost instantly detecting suspicious actions, blocking them and notifying law enforcement agencies of potential crimes.

The Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation is introducing a set of measures to counter telephone and Internet fraud

To prevent fraudulent actions by phone, when attackers impersonate bank employees, mandatory labeling of calls is introduced. When an incoming call arrives, the name of the organization will be displayed on the user's phone screen: thanks to this, the person will be able to understand whether the real financial institution or the fraudster is calling him. At the same time, government agencies, banks and telecom operators are prohibited from communicating with customers through instant messengers - all official notifications can come only through verified communication channels.

In accordance with the proposed measures, citizens will be able to remotely prohibit the registration of loans and loans online in their name - through the State Public services portal or the application of banks. This restriction can be removed when you personally visit the MPSC or a bank branch. Plus, credit institutions themselves will be obliged to conduct a more thorough check of borrowers, including an analysis of credit history, the bank account to which the funds are planned to be transferred, and a ban on the transfer of microloans to third-party accounts. If a person changes his credentials (for example, a phone number) or detects a leak of personal information, a temporary blocking of the issuance of online loans will be automatically carried out.

The Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation is preparing a ban on sending SMS during a voice call

The Russian Ministry of Digital Development is developing a ban on sending SMS messages during telephone conversations as one of the measures to counter cyber fraud. On November 19, 2024, the Minister of Digital Development Maksut Shadayev announced the new initiative.

According to Vedomosti, this measure will become part of a comprehensive package of 30 initiatives to combat cybercrime. The minister explained that it is technically possible to set up operator networks in such a way that SMS messages are received by subscribers only after the completion of the call.

The Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation is preparing a ban on sending SMS during a call

Sergey Veligodsky, Director of the Anti-Fraud Department of Sberbank, stressed the need to strengthen user protection during financial transactions. The draft law under development will also include measures to introduce a two-day cooling period for large transactions and add a second trusted contact.

According to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia Vladimir Kolokoltsev, the damage from cybercrimes since the beginning of 2024 has exceeded ₽116 billion. Cyber crimes have more than doubled in the past five years, reaching 40% of total offenses.

Beeline CEO Sergei Anokhin noted an increase in the number of fraudulent calls through instant messengers from 33% in 2022 to 89% in 2024. The company is already cooperating with Sberbank and Kaspersky Lab to create a single base of scammers.

Rostelecom President Mikhail Oseevsky drew attention to the increasing incidence of account hijacking on the public services portal. In his opinion, the problem is associated with a large number of personal data operators, which requires the centralization of information in a limited number of protected storages.

The head of Roskomnadzor Andrei Lipov announced the possibility of technological blocking of calls through instant messengers in case of violation of Russian law. Requirements are being developed for foreign messengers to provide users with the opportunity to independently limit the reception of calls.^[44]

The Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation prepares base of biometric samples of swindlers

The Ministry of Digital Development of Russia has begun to form a single database of biometric samples of fraudsters to counter cybercrime. This was announced on November 19, 2024 by the Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Maksut Shadayev. Read more here.

Sentence - five years in prison for embezzlement of ₽20,8 million through telephone fraud

On October 31, 2024, the Talitsky District Court of the Sverdlovsk Region sentenced the 34-year-old organizer of a criminal group that stole more than ₽20,8 million from citizens through telephone fraud. The attacker was sentenced to five years in prison in a general regime colony.

According to Vedomosti Ural, the criminal scheme operated using IP telephony, when fraudsters presented themselves as employees of financial organizations and law enforcement agencies, luring out confidential bank card data and access to mobile applications from citizens.

In the Urals, a telephone fraudster received five years in prison for embezzlement of ₽20,8 million

The court found that the convict conspired with unidentified persons in February 2023. The group committed embezzlement between August and September 2023, using various pretexts - from the threat of criminal proceedings to the need to transfer funds to allegedly secure accounts.

The criminal scheme involved obtaining bank cards that received stolen funds. The convict was cashing out through ATMs in Yekaterinburg and Tyumen, leaving himself a certain percentage, and transferred the bulk of the funds to other members of the group.

The court found the man guilty under two articles of the Criminal Code: theft by an organized group on an especially large scale from a bank account and fraud by an organized group on an especially large scale.

Materials in relation to the remaining members of the criminal group are separated into separate proceedings, the investigation continues. The prosecutor's office of the Sverdlovsk region emphasizes that such crimes are becoming more and more technological, and fraudsters are constantly improving the methods of deceiving citizens.

Law enforcement agencies continue to work to identify and suppress such criminal schemes.^[45]

Five suspects in helping Ukrainian call centers who stole 100 million rubles from Russians were arrested in Dagestan

On September 25, 2024, five suspects were arrested in Dagestan for assisting Ukrainian call centers involved in the theft of more than ₽100 million from Russians. According to the FSB, the detainees used fictitious documents to conclude contracts with Russian operators for multi-channel IP-telephony services, after which they provided access to the communication system to fraudsters from the territory of Ukraine.

According to Kommersant, the detainees provided access to multi-channel communication, which allowed fraudsters, posing as employees of Russian law enforcement agencies, financial institutions and special services, to make calls to Russian citizens in order to steal funds. As a result of these actions, significant damage was caused, but its final size may increase due to the receipt of new data.

Five suspects of assisting Ukrainian call centers who stole 100 million rubles from Russians arrested in Dagestan

The FSB explained that fraudsters used special technical means to make calls on behalf of Russian organizations. The detainees, according to preliminary data, entered into contracts for the provision of telecommunications services using forged documents, which made it possible to hide their participation in the criminal scheme. As a result of operational measures, communications, office equipment and storage media were seized from the suspects.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, a criminal case has been initiated against the detainees on the fact of complicity in fraud (part 5 of article 33, part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). At the moment, the investigation is working to establish all the circumstances of criminal activity. Law enforcement agencies continue to check for the involvement of detainees in other episodes of fraud, and the version is also considered that part of the stolen funds could be used to finance the Armed Forces of Ukraine.^[46]

The Ministry of Internal Affairs liquidated the network of communication nodes with 8 thousand numbers to steal money from Russians from abroad. 26 people detained

On September 11, 2024, it became known that Bureau of Special Technical Measures (BSTM) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Russia it stopped the activities of an extensive network of communication nodes that were used by fraudsters to steal money from Russians. 26 people were detained who may be involved in illegal activities.

According to the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Irina Volk, the operation to eliminate the network of illegal communication nodes was carried out by operatives of the BSTM of the Ministry of Internal Affairs together with investigators of the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, colleagues from the Chuvash Republic and 12 other regions of the country with the assistance of the FSB of Russia. The network was used by attackers abroad to commit crimes on the territory of the Russian Federation.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs liquidated the network with 8 thousand numbers for embezzlement of money from Russians. 26 people detained

It was established that the members of the organized group acted in accordance with the instructions of a certain anonymous curator who was outside Russia. The attacker recruited young people via the Internet and used a contactless method to transfer SIM boxes to them, with the help of which the caller's numbers were changed to Russian. Members of the group were responsible for installing equipment in rented apartments, setting it up and regularly replacing blocked SIM cards. At the same time, in order to hide the attack activities and prevent the detection of SIM boxes, the equipment was transported to another place every few days.

According to the investigation, the group operated on the territory of 13 Russian entities. More than 8 thousand numbers have been identified that were used by participants in the criminal scheme. With their help, at least 100 frauds and other illegal acts were committed. During the searches, the operatives seized 39 units of specialized network equipment, as well as SIM cards, which were used to carry out fraudulent schemes.^[47]

The first Russian AI system has been developed that recognizes voice deepfakes by phone

In September 2024, specialists from the Institute of Artificial Intelligence AIRI and the Moscow Technical University of Communications and Informatics (MTUSI) presented the first AI system in Russia capable of recognizing voice deepfakes by phone. This development is aimed at combating telephone fraud, and can also improve the security of systems using voice authentication. Read more here

Russia will launch a single platform to protect citizens from telephone and Internet fraudsters

The Ministry of Digital Development creates a single platform to protect citizens from intruders on the Internet and telephone fraudsters. Representatives of the department reported this to the TAdviser portal on August 2, 2024. Read more here.

How telecom operators in Russia are fighting fraudulent calls via Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber

Telecom operators in Russia are actively introducing systems to identify and block fraudulent calls in the messengers Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber. This is due to the transition of fraudsters to new communication channels in connection with the strengthening of the work of the anti-fraud systems of operators and the state platform for verification of telephone calls. This became known in July 2024.

According to Kommersant, telecom operators have begun to develop and introduce new technologies to combat fraud in instant messengers. VimpelCom has launched a free service that blocks or flags potentially fraudulent calls. The system checks the phone number to which the account is registered against the databases of the operator, Roskomnadzor, Central Bank, Sberbank and Kaspersky Lab. If the number is listed as fraudulent, the call is blocked, and if as spam, it is marked as "potentially dangerous."

Telecom operators in Russia are fighting fraudulent calls

Tele2 is developing a product together with banks to block suspicious transactions that can be requested after conversations in instant messengers. T-Bank and MTS have free number identifiers working in instant messengers. MTS offers this service only for iOS users. According to Oleg Zamiralov, head of the T-Bank Ecosystem Protection Center, the most effective way to block fraudulent calls is being discussed, since current databases may not take into account useful calls.

Svetlana Kirsanova, deputy general director of VimpelCom, said that more than 50% of fraudulent attacks on their network are carried out through messengers, mainly Viber and WhatsApp. Alexey Luzhnov from Bi.Zone noted that up to 90% of fraudulent calls are now made through instant messengers. According to T-Bank, about 30% of fraudulent traffic goes through messengers, and this share has not changed since 2023.

In the first half of 2024, the Antifrod state system prevented 335.58 million calls from replacement numbers, revealing an average of 56 million such calls every month. Roskomnadzor noted that foreign messengers do not confirm information about users in the databases of Russian operators, despite the requirement of legislation from 2021. This makes messengers attractive to criminals.^[48]

Russian operators began to be massively fined for skipping calls from replacement numbers

On July 9, 2024, it became known that in Russia they began to massively fine telecom operators for skipping calls from replacement numbers. This was confirmed by the decision of the Moscow District Court of St. Petersburg, which brought to administrative responsibility T2 Mobile LLC, Tele2 telecom operator, imposing a fine of 600 thousand rubles on the company. This case is not isolated, similar measures were applied to other large telecom operators in the country.

The violations were revealed during an audit conducted by the prosecutor's office. In one case, a call was made through Tele2 equipment from a foreign telecom operator "China Mobile International Limited" from a number corresponding to the Russian numbering plan. As a result of the call, fraudsters stole money from a citizen. The audit found that Tele2 did not take the necessary measures to verify the calls and missed the call with a replacement number, which caused the transit of the fraudulent call.

In Russia, operators began to be fined for skipping calls from replacement numbers

According to representatives of the press service of the courts of St. Petersburg, Tele2 did not fulfill its obligations provided for by the federal law "On Communications," and allowed the skipping of a call initiated by a foreign operator with a replacement number. This violation of the law became the basis for the imposition of a fine.

A similar violation was revealed by the telecom operator Megafon, which was also fined 1.2 million rubles for failure to comply with the law "On Communications," which obliges operators to block calls with replacement numbers. The prosecutor's office of the Lomonosov district of the Leningrad region revealed two cases of fraud using replacement numbers, as a result of which Megafon was fined 600 thousand rubles for each violation.

During one of the administrative investigations, it was established that Mr. D. received a call from France, which was displayed on the phone screen with the Russian code "8-906." According to PJSC VimpelCom, such a call to the number of the victim was not recorded. The violation was discovered as part of a review of criminal cases under articles of fraud.^[49]

FSB banned the use of VoIP accounts from foreign IP addresses to combat telephone scammers

On July 4, 2024, it became known that the Federal Security Service (FSB) introduced new restrictions for IP telephony users as part of the fight against telephone scammers. Russian telecom operators are ordered to prohibit customers from using VoIP accounts from both foreign IP addresses and addresses belonging to Russian hosting providers.

According to RBC, this order was sent to telecom operators in the form of a letter. The general director of the operator "Quantum" Igor Bobov has already informed clients about the new requirements of the FSB.

FSB introduced new restrictions for IP telephony users

This measure is aimed at suppressing the activities of fraudsters who often use virtual numbers and rent virtual PBXs abroad to commit illegal actions. Nikolai Metlyuk, CEO of Piter-IX, stressed that this approach should help track attackers.

However, the new restrictions can cause inconvenience to a number of users. In particular, companies with foreign employees or offices, as well as those who use foreign video conferencing services, such as Zoom, may have difficulties.

Anton Salov, a member of the organizing committee of the Professional Association in the Field of Cloud Technologies, noted that the measure will also affect people on foreign business trips or on vacation - they will not be able to call the public telephone network from abroad.

The ban on the use of VoIP through Russian hosting providers is associated with the ability to bypass restrictions using virtual servers and VPNs. Blocking this channel is designed to make the system more efficient.

The new FSB initiative is a continuation of a set of measures to combat telephone fraud. Previously Roskomnadzor , it forbade operators to skip calls from numbers not registered in the Antifrod system, and also began to study the possibility of automatic blocking of foreign calls.^[50]

In Khabarovsk, the FSB opened a "farm" of SIM cards for Ukrainian special services

On June 13, 2024, it became known that law enforcement officers detained two residents of Khabarovsk who were holding a "farm" with thousands of SIM cards intended for use by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). During the raid, 65 SIM-boxes and about 2 thousand were discovered and seized. SIM cards of various providers of the Russian and foreign segment.

According to RIA Novosti, referring to information received from a source in law enforcement agencies, the equipment was used by the Ukrainian special services, including for "false mining of infrastructure facilities in Russia" in order to destabilize the situation. These SIM cards were used to anonymously register accounts on social networks. Subsequently, through such falsified accounts, false messages were sent to the official pages of law enforcement agencies about the planted explosive devices. In particular, the attackers announced the mining of one of the schools in the Bryansk region.

law enforcement officers detained two residents of Khabarovsk who were holding a "farm" with thousands of SIM cards

Two local residents [Khabarovsk] are involved in the commercial administration of specialized SIM boxes with SIM cards of Russian and foreign telecom operators connected to them, which were used and used by the Ukrainian special services to destabilize the situation in Russia, the law enforcement agencies said.

It is known that subscriber numbers operating in SIM boxes were provided "as virtual identifiers for registration on Internet sites." At the same time, the owners of the farm made a profit for renting equipment. As of mid-June 2024, a criminal case was initiated under the article on causing property damage by deception or abuse of trust committed on a large scale (part 1 of article 165 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).^[51]

Fraudulent traffic is less and less reaching subscribers

In the first 5 months of 2024, the number of daily fraudulent calls that directly reached subscribers averaged 20-30 thousand. In the same period of 2023, the average value reached 75 thousand. Such information on June 14, 2024 was shared in the press service of the State Duma deputy RFAnton Nemkin with reference to Kommersant.

At the same time, in 2024, a larger number of fraudulent calls reaching users are made through the use of DEF technology - virtual numbers that do not have any geographical reference. At this time, the indicator of the use of geographically fixed numbers practically comes to naught, despite the fact that in 2023 its value reached 10 thousand calls per day.

MegaFon The "" noted that a significant decrease in the volume of fraudulent calls that reached subscribers is due to the efficiency of both operators and communications state the platform for blocking calls from replacement numbers. " The statement Antifraud Tele2 said that daily verification of calls can prevent up to 1.5 million fraudulent calls to the attacks operator's network.

The decrease in the share of fraudulent traffic is directly related to the work of the Antifrod platform, which Roskomnadzor launched in 2022, Anton Nemkin is sure.

As of June 2024, most of the operators were connected to the platform for blocking calls from replacement numbers - the number capacity reached 97%. Since the beginning of 2024, it has been possible to block about 248 million fraudulent calls, and since the launch of the platform - more than 1 billion. By the end of 2024, the number capacity of the system is expected to reach 100%. Telecom operators who did not connect to the platform have already faced significant fines, - said the deputy.

At the same time, Nemkin notes, fraudsters react instantly to the introduction of new restrictions, updating their strategies and changing methods of achieving goals.

First, the frequency of use of DEF numbers has been increasing since at least 2022. Let me remind you that Government of Russia I recognized DEF numbers as a threat to security in the field Internet back in 2023. From September 1, 2024, services for issuing DEF numbers are blocked. Nevertheless, attackers continue to actively use virtual numbers, registering on foreign resources for renting numbers. Secondly, fraudulent traffic has largely moved to. As of messengers June 2024, in the overall traffic structure, the share of fraudulent calls in instant messengers on average can reach 60%, and in some cases 80%, the deputy said.

In response to current trends, the state is constantly updating its methods of dealing with attackers.

For example, the development of amendments aimed at tightening the sale of SIM-cards and provisions related to user identification is quite active. But I repeat that the most effective way to protect yourself is to follow very simple rules of digital literacy. Never provide personal information about yourself, including data bank cards and SMS codes to third parties, no matter who they are represented by: bank, Ministry of Internal Affairs, MPSC. No organization will ever ask you for such information, it is confidential, the parliamentarian recalled.

5 people arrested in Russia in case of Ukrainian fraudulent call center that stole 7 billion rubles

On April 8, 2024, the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation announced the arrest of five people who, according to law enforcement agencies, were involved in the work of Ukrainian fraudulent call centers. Only one such communication center could earn more than 7 billion rubles from embezzlement of funds from Russians, the ministry said in a statement.

According to the FSB, the money earned by fraudulent call centers through a chain of financial transactions was accumulated in Ukrainian banks and went to finance the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). Through foreign banks, payments were made for communication services used in fraud, as well as financing the maintenance of technical infrastructure and telecommunications equipment.

FSB announced the arrest of five people who were involved in the work of Ukrainian fraudulent call centers

The attackers ensured the work of special equipment, which made it possible to replace the numbers of swindlers calling from abroad with Russian ones. Fraudsters introduced themselves as employees of financial institutions and law enforcement agencies, after which they convinced Russians to transfer savings and credit funds to so-called safe accounts, "said Interior Ministry spokeswoman Irina Volk.

It is reported that during operational activities, law enforcement agencies seized equipment necessary for the activities of fraudsters, money and digital assets, as well as jewelry and luxury goods. Arrests were also imposed on objects of movable and immovable property.

The arrested suspects were charged under Part 4 of Art. 159 ("Fraud") of the Criminal Code. Russia According to the Russian, MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS the members of the criminal group used offices in,,,, and in their activities To Moscow St. Petersburg. Yaroslavl Sochi According Moscow to Leningrad Oblast preliminary data, the fraudulent scheme has been in effect since 2022. The FSB^[52]

Arrested four telephone fraudsters who deceived pensioners in Moscow for 50 million rubles

The court arrested four couriers on charges of embezzling about 50 million rubles from Moscow pensioners. The press service of the capital's prosecutor's office announced this on February 12, 2024. Read more here.

Telecom operators in Russia have introduced a new mechanism for protecting against theft of SIM cards

In January 2024, Russian operators introduced a new mechanism for protecting against theft of SIM cards. It consists in using the subscriber's e-mail.

As they write, SheetsVimpelCom"""" began to offer its client the protection of SIM cards by two-factor authentications sending a verification code to e-mail. We are talking about those cases when fraudsters are trying to issue a reissue of a SIM card in a communication salon using a fake power of attorney. According to experts interviewed by the publication, this is the most popular and inexpensive way to hack a specific person. Thus, malefactors annually steal up to a thousand subscriber numbers of various operators.

VimpelCom said that if the attacker does not have access to the email of the potential victim, the application for the replacement of the SIM card will remain in the "pending" status. Then, to complete the procedure, an additional document will be required, for example, a driver's license or SNILS. At the same time, the subscriber will receive an SMS notification from the operator about an attempt to replace the SIM card and will be able to respond in a timely manner to potential fraudulent actions, the company noted.

At the beginning of 2024, Tele2 also launched two-factor authentication to enter the personal account, which is associated with e-mail. The operator blocks incoming SMS for 24 hours after replacement so that attackers cannot withdraw money.

Tele2 employees check the issuance of a notarized power of attorney on the website of the Federal Notary Chamber. The document is required to reissue the SIM card in the absence of the client.

The representative of Megafon said that when replacing the SIM-card with a valid number, the subscriber will receive an SMS notification that the replacement is taking place. The message contains instructions with steps to be taken if the user has not initiated a replacement, he added.^[53]

2023

The Roskomnadzor system blocked almost 2 billion calls from fraudsters in a year

The system of blocking calls from substitution numbers "Antifrod," created by Roskomnadzor, in 2023 blocked almost 2 billion calls from fraudsters. In December 2023, this figure was the largest for the entire time of its work. This was announced on January 19, 2023 by the press service of the State Duma deputy RFAnton Nemkin. Read more here.

In Russia, services that lease virtual mobile numbers will be blocked

The Russian government decided to ban services that lease virtual mobile numbers (or DEF numbers), recognizing their use of such numbers as a threat to security in the field of communications and the Internet.^[54] government decree amends the Rules for centralized management of a public communication network. It is assumed that this ban will have a positive impact on reducing the number of scammers. The document will enter into force on September 1, 2024. Such information with TAdviser on September 22, 2023 was shared in the press service of the State Duma deputy RFAnton Nemkin. Read more here.

Telephone fraudsters who worked for the Armed Forces of Ukraine were detained in Moscow

In April 2023, telephone fraudsters who worked for the Armed Forces of Ukraine were detained in Moscow. The attackers cashed the money stolen from the Russians at ATMs, converted it into cryptocurrency and transferred it to anonymous accounts in Ukraine.

Fraudsters detained in Dnepropetrovsk who stole 3 million euros from Czech residents

In April 2023, a fraudulent group was liquidated in Dnepropetrovsk, which stole almost 3 million euros from the inhabitants of the Czech Republic. Fraudsters organized several call centers, whose employees lured money from people by phone. They acted according to a proven scheme: they introduced themselves as bank employees and police officers, forcing victims to transfer money to allegedly "safe accounts." 6 alleged organizers of the criminal community were detained, among them - citizens of Ukraine and the Czech Republic.

Russian telecom operators will be fined heavily for unidentified equipment against replacement numbers

In mid-February 2023, it became known that Russian telecom operators would be fined heavily for refusing to install equipment against replacement numbers. The corresponding bill was approved by the government commission on legislative activities.

We have been saying for a long time that it is necessary to restore order on the telecom market. The wild number of telephone frauds is a direct result of the bad faith of individual, especially small, operators who prefer to make money on crime, "said Alexander Khinshtein, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications.

The document provides for increased fines for operators who skip calls from fraudsters from replacement numbers and allow them to remain anonymous. The corresponding amendments are proposed to be made to the Code of Administrative Offenses.

The bill is aimed at ensuring the safety of citizens and the state, combating telephone fraud and telephone terrorism. Modern technologies allow you to make calls with the substitution of an incoming number. This is used by both fraudsters and telephone terrorists who report false mining. Therefore, it is often not possible to determine the location of the caller, - explained Igor Cherepanov, deputy chairman of the board of the Russian Bar Association, quoted by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

He recalled that the use of replacement numbers by fraudsters becomes possible due to the presence of a large number of unscrupulous telecom operators who evade the obligation to introduce a system of operational-search measures.

According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, mobile companies establish systems of operational-search measures at their own expense. The cost of the equipment depends on the traffic transmitted by the operator and the transmission rate. If the company does not have the financial opportunity to immediately purchase equipment, you can use outsourcing services.^[55]

2022

Blocking fraudulent numbers in Russia has grown 4 times

In 2022, the Bank of Russia initiated the blocking of more than 756 thousand fraudulent telephone numbers, which is more than four times more than a year earlier, and is the maximum indicator since the beginning of such work of the regulator in 2019. These data were released by the Central Bank in mid-February 2023.

As noted in the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, in 2022, scenarios related to partial mobilization were added to the previously used scenarios of calls from attackers, namely calls from allegedly "security service specialists of the bank," "law enforcement agencies" and "Central Bank."

At the same time, cellular operators do not confirm a sharp increase in the number of fraudulent calls over mobile networks. Tele2 told CNews that the impressive increase in detected fraudulent numbers, which is mentioned in the Central Bank report, may be associated with a "low base for comparison in 2021."

It is important to take into account that the correlation between the number of fraudulent numbers and the volume of thefts is also conditional, since potential victims may not respond to attempts to mislead them, Tele2 said.

Sergey Khrenov, director of prevention of fraud and loss of income at Megafon, says that the operator does not record a multiple increase in the number of calls from mobile numbers in its network. He suggested that a significant part of such calls are made in instant messengers, and when determining the source of an unwanted call, they can be counted as calls from mobile numbers. " He also added that in 2021 and the first half of 2022, fraudulent calls were made using the substitution of urban numbering.

MegaFon also cited data according to which the number of fraudulent calls with the substitution of Russian city numbers decreased 10 times by the end of 2022 compared to the beginning of the year.^[56]

The principle of operation of the state platform to combat telephone fraudsters

In December 2022, the official launch of the unified platform for verification of telephone calls (EPVV) "Antifrod," which is designed to combat telephone fraud, took place. Read more here.

A deceived pensioner was detained in Moscow, who began working for fraudsters to return the money

In Moscow, in November 2022, a pensioner from Reutov, deceived by fraudsters, was detained. Having become a victim of swindlers, he agreed to an offer to "work" for them in order to return his savings and close debts. As a result, the pensioner was detained while receiving 5 million rubles from a new victim.

Arrest of 100 people in Britain for phone number swap services for fraudsters

Investigators in Britain have discovered a site that offered customers phone number substitution services. Through this site, thousands of scammers from different countries were engaged in calling their victims, paying for the services of spoofing numbers with crypt.

Potential victims were contacted, posing as employees of well-known banks or government agencies. In Britain alone, more than 200,000 people suffered from such calls, and the damage is estimated at least $3.9 million.

Police officers hacked into the site's database and obtained information about 59,000 users. In November 2022, 100 people have already been arrested.

Detention of fraudsters in St. Petersburg who stole more than 150 thousand rubles

In St. Petersburg in November 2022, bank fraudsters were detained who stole customer funds through social engineering. In Kolpino, they found special equipment to redirect traffic. For six months, the connection of more than 12 thousand SIM cards was recorded there, through the balance sheets of which more than 150 million rubles passed. It was established that the money was stolen by fraudsters with the transfer of funds to "secure accounts."

Mishustin approved the requirements for the system of blocking calls from replacement numbers

In November 2022 Mikhail Mishustin , the Prime Minister signed a decree "On approval of the rules for sending to the system for ensuring that telecom operators comply with the requirements for the provision of communication services and services for passing traffic in a public communication network and receiving information from the specified system." We are talking about a system for blocking calls SMS and from replacement numbers. "" Antifraud More. here

Orange Business Services was fined for skipping a call from a replacement number from abroad

As it became known on August 19, 2022, for the first time in Russia, a telecom operator was fined for skipping a call from a replacement number from abroad. In accordance with the court decision, Orange Business Services will have to pay 1 million rubles. Read more here.

Interpol covered a network of black call centers operating in 76 countries. 2 thousand people arrested, $50 million confiscated

In mid-June 2022, Interpol announced an operation to detain members of a global network of black call centers. In total, about 2 thousand people were arrested, $50 million were confiscated.

As part of an operation called First Light 2022, which Interpol has coordinated annually since 2014, law enforcement officials from 76 countries raided 1,770 call centers suspected of conducting fraudulent transactions such as telephone and romantic fraud, email fraud and financial crimes.

Among the 2 thousand people arrested during Operation First Light 2022 were call centers operators and scammers, as well as money launderers. Interpol said that during the operation, 4 thousand bank accounts were frozen and 3 thousand suspects were identified.

This June 2022 operation is the latest example of governments and law enforcement agencies around the world trying to counter growing cyber threats, including viruses extortioners other crimes. Interpol also works closely not only with law enforcement, but also with fund providers cyber security such as, and, through an Fortinet Palo Alto Networks Trend Micro information-sharing program called Gateway, which was instrumental in the operation that led to the arrest of suspects from. SilverTerrier Such cooperation between the public and private sectors is crucial as countries and companies try to guard against increasingly sophisticated gangs of cybercriminals.

Interpol has also been told of a number of new trends, including how herders launder money through victims' personal bank accounts, how social media fuels human trafficking and how criminals posing as bank employees trick people into giving login details via vishing. Another trend identified by the organisation is that cybercriminals impersonate Interpol employees to get money from people who fear they are under investigation.^[57]

A new system for combating telephone spam will work in Russia

In Russia, in the coming months, another system for combating spam calls with unwanted SMS messages will begin to work., Which will allow subscribers to leave complaints about certain calls on the websites of their telecom operators, and for those who want to immediately attract the attention of the authorities, a similar function will be available on the website of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia (FAS). This became known on March 21, 2022.

After filing such a complaint within 72 hours, the number from which the spam was received will be blocked. The system can start working no later than June 1, 2022.

Representatives of the FAS confirmed that such a system is really preparing for deployment. They also noted that as of March 2022, the department receives an incessant stream of complaints about spam and scammers.

Representatives of the FAS noted that the complaint form for spam calls will be added to the agency's website in the second quarter of 2022 (April 1 - June 30). After reviewing the application, the number will be blocked in the networks of all operators connected to the system.

For more effective work to protect citizens from unwanted advertising, it is necessary to work together with mobile operators. We have already agreed on how this service will work, "Karina Taukenova, deputy head of the FAS, told the publication.

In other words, if the operator is not connected to the spam blocking system, then his subscriber's complaint about unwanted calls and SMS messages may not result in blocking the number from which the ad is being called or sent.

According to the source, the form of filing a complaint about spam will be built into their websites and operators of the Big Four - MTS, Tele2, Megafon and Beeline. It was not known whether other operators, including regional and virtual ones, plan to connect to this initiative as of March 21, 2022.

The FAS and operators started talking about the creation of a unified anti-spam system only after a sharp increase in the number of unwanted calls from abroad using substitution numbers. Such calls have become a frequent occurrence since the last days of February 2022.

While Russia does not have a unified system for combating telephone spammers, operators are trying to fight them on their own. Thus, in the MTS and Megafon networks, the antispam system has been operating since 2021. For two, these operators have blocked over 272 million advertising calls.

In Megafon, antispam is based on analytical algorithms. After recognizing the advertising call, they direct them to a specially created voice box. According to representatives of the operator, by March 2022, the number of processed spam calls increased to 50 million per month. During the service, the number of complaints about spam on the Megafon network decreased by 1.5 times.

Beeline and Tele2 are preparing to launch similar services in the second quarter of 2022. At the same time, Tele2 has the opportunity to complain about spam through a call center. Representatives of the operator did not specify how many people used it^[58].

2021

Roskomnadzor creates a system for blocking fraudulent calls from replacement numbers

On December 29, 2021, the Main Radio Frequency Center (GRCC), subordinate to Roskomnadzor, signed a contract for the study of technology that will prohibit the substitution of telephone numbers. This became known on January 25, 2022. Read more here.

Operators will be fined ₽1 million for calls to subscribers from replacement numbers

On December 22, 2021, the State Duma adopted in the third (final reading) the law on the introduction of fines for skipping calls using substitution numbers. The adopted amendments establish administrative responsibility for non-fulfillment by telecom operators of the obligation to transfer the subscriber number or unique identification code:

• for officials, fines will range from 30 thousand to 100 thousand rubles;
• for individual entrepreneurs - from 200 thousand to 800 thousand rubles;
• for legal entities - from 500 thousand to 1 million rubles.

The document establishes a ban on number substitution when establishing voice connections and transmitting SMS - both on the telephone network and on the Internet. Fines will be levied on those telecom operators who do not connect to the system for ensuring compliance with the requirements for the provision of communication services and traffic passing in the public communication network.

As Alexander Khinshtein, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications, explained, the use of a replacement number is one of the main mechanisms of fraudulent schemes. For example, a call comes from a neighboring state, and a person sees an incoming number with a Russian city code.

The law is a real step to combat cybercrime and phone fraud, which has become a real disaster for people. More than a quarter of all reported crimes are crimes involving the use of information technology, "he said.

According to Khinshtein, the law "On Communications" obliges operators to deliver a call to a subscriber under the original number, but this rule was everywhere ignored, since no punishment was provided for its violation.

The deputy considers this law, as well as on extrajudicial blocking of sites and on uniform Internet tariffs of operators for schools and other socially significant objects, to be one of the most important.^[59]

Russian operators were obliged to block calls and SMS from abroad by replacement numbers

On December 1, 2021, a law came into force on blocking calls and SMS messages from abroad to Russia by substitution numbers by telecom operators. The document was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 2, 2021.

The law provides for the obligation of operators to stop the provision of communication services and traffic transit services when a connection outgoing from the network of a foreign operator under a Russian number is detected, if the calling subscriber is not a client of a domestic operator located abroad, as well as if the connecting operator has no subscriber number or subscriber identification code. SMS messages will also be blocked.

It is specified that operators do not have the right to change the number or unique identification code of the initiator of the connection, which must remain unchanged.

Earlier, the All-Russian People's Front (ONF) called on mobile operators to warn customers about suspicious calls and block them. Social activists noted that fraud with numbers has now become one of the main trump cards of fraudsters who steal money from bank accounts. People often do not check who calls them if they see the number of a credit institution on the determinant, and therefore trust the scammers with their money, the ONF noted.

The problem has become acute in recent years - the monthly damage to Russians from the actions of telephone fraudsters reaches 5 billion rubles (data for November 2021).

However, substitution numbers are used not only by fraudsters, but also by banks, retail, the service sector and other industries to inform customers. According to experts interviewed by the newspaper, the ban will not solve the problem of fraud, since about 11 million illegal SIM cards are in circulation.

The head of the Group-IB department for the investigation of high-tech crimes, Andrei Kolmakov, believes that measures within the country will lead to the fact that attackers will begin to use similar services abroad.

Fyodor Muzalevsky, director of the technical department of RTM Group, believes that measures to block gray numbers remain extremely relevant. But he considers the problem "the technical unavailability of providers and even their disinterest, because even replacement numbers are traffic, and it is paid."

The VimpelCom"" stated that every eighth incoming call is undesirable, and the number of methods of fraud using social engineering, unfortunately, does not decrease.^[60][61]

Special forces soldier died during the arrest of a telephone fraudster in St. Petersburg

On November 9, 2021, it became known about the death of an employee of the Special Rapid Response Unit (SOBR) during the arrest of a telephone fraudster in St. Petersburg. Read more here.

Putin signed a law on blocking calls from replacement numbers

The President Russia Vladimir Putin signed a law blocking calls and SMS messages from replacement numbers. The corresponding document was published on the portal of legal information on July 2, 2021.

It happens that scammers call from other countries from their local phones - using deception programs, you can make the incoming number be defined as Russian. During the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the number of fraudulent calls increased significantly. In addition, there are often calls from abroad about false mining of objects in Russia.

In accordance with the law, the telecom operator must stop providing communication services and traffic transit services when a connection outgoing from the network of a foreign operator under a Russian number is detected, if the calling subscriber is not a client of a Russian operator located abroad, and if the connecting operator does not have a subscriber number or the caller's identification code. SMS messages will be blocked in the same way.

Operators do not have the right to change the number or unique identification code of the connection initiator, which must remain unchanged. You can call from abroad from a regular Russian number without restrictions.

The law signed by Putin also obliges telecommunication operators to connect Roskomnadzor to the system created by the radio frequency service to ensure that telecom operators comply with the requirements when providing communication services and traffic transit services in a public communication network. They will be obliged to exchange information with the system in a manner that will be determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Russian Federation.

The provisions of the law come into force on December 1, 2021, with the exception of a number of norms. From May 1, 2022, operators will have to transmit numbers and unique subscriber codes to each other unchanged when establishing a connection.^[62]"

Ministry of Internal Affairs signed a contract for the development of a service to combat telephone fraudsters

In early May 2021, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ministry of Internal Affairs) of Russia announced the development of a service to combat telephone fraud. A solution called Anti-Fraudster is planned to be created by the end of the year. Read more here.

The Ministry of Digital Development recognized the substitution of the number as an official threat to subscribers

In April 2021, the Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation presented a draft decree of the Government of the Russian Federation on securing the threat of phone number substitution in the legal field.

According to Vedomosti, the Ministry of Digital Development proposes to replace the caller's number in the "Rules for Centralized Management of the Public Communications Network." They also define the types of threats to the stability, safety and integrity of the communication network.

After the introduction of these changes, the Ministry of Digital Development, the FSB, Roskomnadzor and other relevant departments will have to develop their own norms to combat telephone fraud with number substitution. Fraudulent actions with number substitution will be blocked.

By April 2021, the substitution of a subscriber number or a unique subscriber identification code in any form is not fixed at the legislative level. As a result, when a call from a Moscow number comes from abroad, the operator transmits this number unchanged - as Moscow, TASS reports the Russian Information Agency with reference to Deputy Head of the Ministry of Digital Development Oleg Ivanov.

The introduction into the right field in an explicit form of a threat of number substitution will allow Roskomnadzor to legally, within the framework of centralized management of the public communication network, oblige operators not to miss calls with the substitution of a subscriber number or a unique subscriber identification code, he said.

On April 20, 2021, the deputy chairman of the board Sberbank Stanislav Kuznetsov called telephone fraud a "national disaster." According to him, about "every tenth call made to any citizen Russia is a telephone fraud." He noted that calls are often made using number substitution technology, since there are still opportunities for this in Russia.^[63][64]

The Ministry of Digital Development has developed rules to combat the substitution of numbers by fraudsters

In March 2021, it became known about the draft government decree "On approval of the rules for connecting telecommunication networks and their interaction" developed by the Ministry of Ministry of Digital Development. With this document, the department expects to exclude the possibility of swapping telephone numbers by scammers.

The rules determine the procedure and conditions for connecting telecommunication networks and their interaction with the telecommunication network of an operator occupying a significant position in a public communication network, as well as the peculiarities of connecting telecommunication networks and their interaction with the telecommunication network of a universal service operator using a communication infrastructure designed to provide universal communication services.

The document establishes the right of the carrier when making a telephone call to request information about the originator of the call and not to miss the call if the answer is not received or the information received does not correspond to the call being made.

Representatives of telecommunications operators interviewed by ComNews believe that the Ministry of Digital Development initiative will help reduce telephone fraud.

Existing regulatory gaps interfere with the prompt identification of attackers. There is a possibility that the proposed initiatives will help reduce the severity of the problem, the press service of ER-Telecom Holding JSC reported. At the same time, some experts admit that it will only get worse.

Sergey Efimov, General Director of the Association of Telephone Operators (AOTS), believes that the document does not solve not only the issues of substitution and fraud, it aggravates the situation.

Now the dominant operators will be able to arbitrarily block calls from the networks of smaller operators. These are purely corrupt rules. You need to change the network model. If you control the dialing (range) of calls coming from the connected operators (numbers B), this will give much more. Substitution in general should be banned for now. Society is not ready for this. In Europe, they are preparing only in cloud numbering, but before that they still need to grow, "he explained.[65]

2020

A fraudulent call center that earned millions was covered in Russia

A fraudulent call center that earned millions was covered in Russia. This was reported at the end of October 2020 by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.

It was previously established that the attackers organized a call center, from where they called potential victims and introduced themselves as employees of the bank's security service, - said the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Irina Volk.

According to her, the swindlers found out confidential information from customers and gained access to their bank accounts. After that, they bought expensive digital equipment in online stores with the money of the victims, which they then sold.

Law enforcement agencies took up the criminal scheme after the statement of a citizen who reported the theft of more than 2.8 million rubles from her bank accounts. On the fact of this theft, an investigator of the Department of Internal Affairs for the South-Western Administrative District of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the city of Moscow opened a criminal case.

The employees identified two suspects - couriers, on whom, according to the investigation, orders paid by the victim's bank cards were issued. One of them was detained red-handed while trying to receive goods. In the Krasnogorsk urban district of the Moscow region, operatives detained his alleged accomplice and 10 couriers.

Later, another suspect was detained, who, presumably, was engaged in the distribution of orders between couriers, control over the transfer of goods for sale, and the transfer of funds to cryptocurrency. In relation to all 13 defendants, a preventive measure was chosen in the form of detention.

According to police, the group issued over 420 orders of equipment, committing more than 70 thefts. Criminal cases have been initiated on all facts. In addition, a criminal case was initiated on the organization of a criminal community.^[66]

The Ministry of Communications has created a working group to combat telephone fraudsters

On September 7, 2020, the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications announced the creation of a working group to combat telephone fraudsters. It includes representative offices of the department, as well as the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB, Roskomnadzor, the Bank of Russia, credit organizations and telecom operators.

The working group will develop recommendations for carrying out measures aimed at blocking the unauthorized use of telephone numbers. In addition, the group plans to pay attention to the algorithms of the functioning of IP telephony services, as well as the identification and blocking of phone numbers of fraudulent call centers. Another line of work of the group is related to issues of legislative regulation in the field of telephone fraud.

The emergence of this advisory body is due to the rapid increase in cases of deception of clients of credit institutions using telephone numbers. I am sure that by joint efforts of the members of the working group we will develop effective ways to solve the problem, "said Oleg Ivanov, deputy head of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications, who was appointed chairman of the interdepartmental working group to consider issues of combating fraud committed using telephone numbers.

In July 2020, the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications prepared a bill that proposes to prohibit mobile operators from issuing numbers assigned to other operators to their subscribers. The document is aimed at combating fraudsters in the field of mobile communications.

The authors of the bill indicate that in Russian legislation there is no direct ban on the use by operators of someone else's numbering resource.

This legal uncertainty allows unscrupulous market participants to use someone else's number capacity. In this regard, the number of cases of fraud in the provision of communication services has seriously increased in the Russian Federation. The proposed bill will significantly reduce the number of cases of fraud, the document says.[67]

The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications is developing a database of fraudsters and spammers in Russia

On August 21, 2020, it became known about the creation in Russia of a single database of telephone numbers of fraudsters and spammers. Oleg Ivanov, deputy head of the department, spoke about the new project of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications. Read more here.

The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications will prohibit operators from giving subscribers numbers of other operators

On July 20, 2020, it became known about the decision of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications to prohibit operators from giving subscribers numbers assigned to other telecommunications companies. Thanks to this, the department intends to reduce communications fraud - Telephone fraud.

The telecom operator does not have the right, on the basis of the agreement on the provision of communication services, to allocate to the subscriber a subscriber number corresponding to the Russian system and numbering plan from the numbering resource not allocated to him in the prescribed manner or allocated to another telecom operator, the document prepared by the ministry says.

Main article: Cellular communications (Russian market)

A fraudulent call center was liquidated in a Moscow pre-trial detention center

In mid-July 2020, it became known about the discovery in the cells of prisoners of the Moscow SIZO "Sailor Silence" of a fraudulent call center. The inmates called bank customers and tried to steal money from them.

During the special operation of the FSIN Penitentiary Service on July 16, 2020, a virtually full-fledged fraudulent call center was found in the Matrosskaya Tishina cells of the pre-trial detention center: dozens of phones, hundreds of SIM cards, routers for accessing the Internet, wireless headphones and microphones. During the searches, the prisoners blocked the doors and tried to destroy the prohibited equipment and black accounting with an indication of the proceeds from fraud on the Internet, which was carried out by several dozen people and directly from the "Sailor's Silence" cells.

One of the initiators of this special operation was Sberbank, which has long tried to obtain searches in prisons: the bank's security service has repeatedly recorded geo-locations of fraudulent calls to its clients indicating correctional institutions.

The Presnensky District Court of Moscow, at the request of the Main Investigation Department of the TFR, arrested two employees of this isolation ward in the case of the illegal transfer of items prohibited in prison to prisoners, including mobile phones. As a result of operational actions, criminal cases were initiated against FSIN officers working in the pre-trial detention center, Vladislav Ostapenko and Sergei Voitko. It was they who were engaged in the supply of equipment to the cameras. Voitko personally carried one hundred smartphones to the territory of the pre-trial detention center, Ostapenko had already distributed the devices to the "employees" - prisoners.

As the secretary of the Public Monitoring Commission (PMC) Aleksey Melnikov Voitko and Ostapenko told reporters, an underground business for the trade in cigarettes, alcohol, drugs and SIM cards was organized on the territory of the pre-trial detention center.

During the preliminary investigation, it turned out that Voitko and Ostapenko held meetings of authorities, and in January 2019 they demanded 500 thousand rubles from one of the persons under investigation, threatening to worsen the conditions of detention, - said Yulia Ivanova, assistant to the head of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the city of Moscow.

According to the surviving documents, it was established that the prisoners paid the prison staff more than 5 million rubles. The technical costs for prisoners for "office assembly" amounted to 7 million rubles - the scale of the fraudulent call center becomes clear.

According to investigators, the phones hid in depressions that the inmates hollowed out with spoons in wooden bunks and furniture. Prisoners spoke through microphones, many used wireless headphones.

It is noted that during the search, the businessmen tried to destroy the accounting department, however, thanks to the poorly working sewage system, some of the papers were saved.^[68]

2019: Central Bank and Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications create a number substitution blocking tool

On December 19, 2019, it became known about the development in Russia of a tool for blocking the substitution of a number, which is actively used by fraudsters to steal money. The mechanism is jointly created by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Communications, Prime reports with reference to the head of the Center for Monitoring and Responding to Computer Attacks in the Credit and Financial Sphere (FinCERT) of the Central Bank Artyom Kalashnikov. The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications confirmed this information to the agency.

Everything related to information security in our country, of course, is being considered.... We are trying to defeat the substitution of numbers. Unfortunately, here the competencies are not only ours, here is the sphere of communication, but, nevertheless, there are certain developments, and we shared with our colleagues from the ministry, we will try to apply with their consent, "Kalashnikov said.

According to him, it is planned to develop means of controlling traffic passing through the public network in order to prevent attackers from replacing the number of any organization at the connection stage.

Artyom Kalashnikov admitted that in order to introduce a mechanism for blocking the substitution of telephone numbers, legislation will have to be changed.

Earlier, the first deputy head of the information security department of the Bank of Russia Artem Sychev spoke about the need to develop amendments to the Law "On Communications" to solve the problem of number substitution. According to Sychev, some telecom operators refuse to block the phone numbers of fraudsters, and they should have certain responsibilities for regulating traffic exchange. Among other things, the rules for passing the signal between IP networks and ordinary telephony should be regulated, he noted.

Scammers can display any number on the victim's screen thanks to the SIP data transfer protocol (a type of IP telephony). The technology allows you to call from an Internet browser and from a mobile phone.^[69]

Notes