AN system

History

2025: Theft of 21.9 million rubles - fraudsters introduced themselves as Philip Morris employees and requested the purchase of video cards

On October 29, 2025, a criminal case was opened on the fact of theft by unidentified persons of video cards from the IT company AN-System. To conclude a deal to buy high-tech equipment, the scammers introduced themselves as employees of the Russian division of the international tobacco corporation Philip Morris.

According to CNews, the attackers, using fake documents and power of attorney, entered into fictitious contracts for the supply of video cards, after which they received the goods and stopped communication.

𝓲

Фото: Freepik

According to Alexander Zubanev, general director of AN-System LLC, in July 2025, his company delivered 563 MSI GeForce RTX 5060 video cards worth 21.9 million rubles to a warehouse in the Moscow region under a similar agreement. However, the payment never arrived.

When AN-System initiated a pre-trial settlement, sending a claim to the buyer of video cards, it turned out that the real Philip Morris corporation had nothing to do with the transaction.

According to CNews, two more Moscow companies were similarly affected: Newride LLC (damage over 1 million rubles) and Avtograd LLC (damage 14.1 million rubles). For all episodes, criminal cases were initiated under Article 159 of Part 4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud).

According to lawyer Yuri Ivanov, who participates in one of the cases, criminals can receive up to 10 years in prison. As Ivanov notes, the investigation of this criminal case is not fraught with significant difficulties, which makes it possible to count on the early identification of all involved persons.

Material damage can be recovered from them as part of a civil lawsuit in criminal proceedings. However, voluntary compensation for damage, according to Ivanov, is the most rational defense strategy, since it serves as the only significant circumstance that mitigates punishment.^[1]

Notes