Main article: Telephone fraud
2025
Telephone scammers lured 6 million rubles from the daughter of singer Mikhail Turetsky
In September 2025, the daughter of singer Mikhail Turetsky, Emmanuel Turetsky, announced that she had become a victim of telephone fraudsters and gave them all her savings - 6 million rubles. According to the victim, she reported an SMS code to an employee of a certain delivery company. While Emmanuel tried to protect her State Public services account and personal accounts in banks, unknown persons sent her a strange document certified by her electronic signature. The musician's heiress was contacted by a false investigator and said that she allegedly transferred access to her accounts to some extremist from Ukraine and now her whole family is under threat. Read more here
Voronezh doctor gave 3 million rubles to telephone fraudsters who threatened with a criminal case to support terrorists
Cyber fraudsters deceived a pensioner by ₽2,96 million. In Voronezh, a 76-year-old doctor received a call from a woman who introduced herself as an employee of the FIU. She reported the recalculation of the pension and wrote it down for a "reception," asking to name the code from SMS. "Representatives of the FSB" and "Central Bank" began to call the man, claiming that suspicious transactions were taking place in his account. Under the threat of criminal prosecution for "supporting terrorism," the pensioner was persuaded to cooperate. This was reported in September 2025 by the police of the Voronezh region.[1]
Telephone scammers "processed" a Muscovite for six months and lured out 27.7 million rubles from her. She recorded the swindler's phone as a grandson
On September 20, 2025, the Moscow City Prosecutor's Office announced that an 84-year-old resident of the Russian capital was the victim of telephone scammers who lured almost 28 million rubles from her. The attackers "processed" the woman for more than six months.
For the first time, the swindlers contacted the victim in February 2025: introducing themselves as employees of a telephone company, they informed the woman about the replacement of the city phone code, in connection with the couple it was required to provide passport data. Without suspecting deception, an elderly Muscovite handed over personal information to the scammers.
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After that, the attackers regularly contacted the pensioner under the guise of law enforcement officials, intimidating and convincing the woman that money transfers were being made on her behalf. As a result, the swindlers obtained her consent to participate in the "operation to capture criminals." In addition, they promised the woman the safety of all her savings, prohibiting communication on this topic with loved ones. The attackers managed to gain confidence in the victim so much that she wrote down the number of one of them on her phone as a grandson's contact. During the calls, the woman told others that she was talking to a relative.
In the end, the swindlers convinced the pensioner that in order to protect funds, it was necessary to purchase expensive watches worth more than 27.7 million rubles, allegedly as a gift to her daughter. After making the purchase, the woman handed it over to the courier who named the code word. The pensioner did not immediately realize that she had become a victim of fraudsters and for a long time tried to contact them by phone, and then turned to law enforcement agencies. The establishment of the circumstances of fraud and persons involved in the commission of the crime are carried out by employees of the Zyuzinsky interdistrict prosecutor's office.[2]
Muscovite gave ₽28 million to telephone scammers who called on behalf of security officials
A resident of Moscow at the age of 68 became a victim of telephone fraudsters posing as law enforcement officers, and lost ₽28 million, including funds from the sale of her own apartment. As part of the investigation, law enforcement agencies detained a 42-year-old resident of Yekaterinburg, who acted as an accomplice of a criminal group and received money from the victim through couriers. This was announced by the head of the Department of Information and Public Relations of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in Moscow Vladimir Vasenin on September 16, 2025.
According to Interfax, the fraudulent scheme began in October 2023, when the pensioner began to receive calls from persons posing as law enforcement officers. The attackers convinced the woman of the need to protect her money and property from imaginary threats.
Under the pretext of ensuring the safety of savings, fraudsters persuaded the victim to issue a loan for ₽600 thousand. The woman transferred this amount, along with personal savings, to the so-called "safe account," controlled by criminals.
At the first stage of the fraudulent operation, the pensioner transferred more than ₽3 million. However, the impact on the victim did not end there, and the attackers continued psychological pressure to receive a larger amount.
Following the instructions of telephone scammers, the victim met with a woman unknown to her earlier in a state institution. There she took herself off the registration at the place of residence and registered in the apartment of the citizen who met her.
Continuing to comply with the requirements of the criminals, the pensioner turned to a notary to draw up a contract for the sale of her apartment. The buyers were a young couple who did not know about the illegal nature of the transaction and participated in it in good faith.
The woman placed the money received from the sale of real estate in a cardboard box in accordance with the instructions of the fraudsters. The money was transferred to a courier who arrived by taxi, who later delivered it to one of the accomplices in the criminal scheme.
Law enforcement agencies, as part of operational-search measures, established the identity and location of the fraudster's accomplice. A detained resident of Yekaterinburg took a box of money from a taxi driver and handed it over to the organizers of the crime.[3]
In the Tula region, the school director transferred ₽4 million to telephone fraudsters who promised quick investment income
The director of an educational institution from the Arsenyevsky district of the Tula region became a victim of fraudsters, having lost more than ₽4 million when trying to profit from exchange operations. A 46-year-old woman transferred funds to a bank account after the attackers contacted her through the Telegram messenger and convinced her of the possibility of quick earnings in the financial markets. The incident occurred on September 3, 2025.
According to the Office MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Russia for the Tula Region, over the past day, four residents of the region turned to the police with statements about fraud. Citizens aged 25 to 56 became victims. The total amount of funds transferred to fraudsters amounted to ₽4 million 124 thousand.
The greatest damage was suffered by the head of the school, who believed in the possibility of receiving income from exchange activities. Fraudsters used a classic scheme of investment deception, promising high returns and quick results. The woman transferred a large amount to the bank account indicated by the attackers.
The other victims were a 56-year-old boiler house operator from Uzlovaya, who lost ₽50 thousand. The fraudsters introduced themselves as bank employees and convinced the woman to transfer the money to a "safe" account under the pretext of protection from unauthorized debiting of funds.
The 50-year-old controller of an agricultural enterprise from Donskoy lost ₽43 thousand 950 rubles after clicking on a phishing link. An unknown person wrote to a man on WhatsApp about selling auto parts, after which he sent him to a fake site to enter bank details.
A 25-year-old resident of Donskoy lost ₽30 thousand while trying to purchase an electric scooter through a free ad site. The young man transferred the money to the alleged seller, but did not receive the promised goods.[4]
Telephone fraudster lured ₽20 million from a resident of St. Petersburg, introducing himself as governor Beglov
An unknown attacker lured ₽20 million from an 84-year-old pensioner from St. Petersburg, introducing himself as the governor of the city, Alexander Beglov, and convincing the victim to transfer funds to capture the criminals who allegedly stole from the city budget. On the fact of fraud on an especially large scale, a criminal case was initiated, the maximum punishment for which is up to 10 years in prison. The incident became known on August 29, 2025.
According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, on August 28, an acquaintance of the injured pensioner living in the village of Pargolovo, Vyborg district of St. Petersburg, contacted the police. The man reported a crime committed against an 84-year-old resident of the district.
The victim told police officers the details of the incident. An unknown interlocutor contacted the pensioner by phone, introduced himself as the governor of St. Petersburg and reported the alleged embezzlement of a large amount from the city budget. To assist in the capture of criminals, the fraudster asked to transfer the funds to a special liaison.
Believing the caller, the elderly man agreed to the attacker's demands and handed over ₽20 million to the scammers. The deception was revealed only after the intervention of the victim's acquaintances, who turned to law enforcement agencies to protect the interests of the pensioner.
According to the press service of the Main Directorate MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Russia for St. Petersburg and, Leningrad Region the investigating authorities opened a criminal case under part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of Russia. This article provides for liability for fraud on an especially large scale with a maximum punishment of up to 10 years in prison.
Governor Alexander Beglov on August 11, 2025 made a radio address to the townspeople, warning of the growing activity of fraudsters. According to him, invitation emails to meetings with the governor are sent exclusively by attackers who use his name for criminal purposes.[5]
A resident of Anapa gave ₽6,5 million to telephone scammers who called on behalf of employees of the intercom service, the FSB and Rosfinmonitoring
A resident of Anapa became a victim of telephone scammers, losing ₽6,5 million after calls from persons who introduced themselves as employees of the intercom support service, and then employees of Public services, Rosfinmonitoring and the FSB]. The criminal scheme began with the proposal of a free replacement of the keys from the intercom and ended with the transfer of a large amount to accounts controlled by the attackers. Information about the incident came from the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Krasnodar Territory in August 2025.
From the message of the department it follows that the fraudulent operation developed in stages with the involvement of several "departments." The initial contact was made by persons who introduced themselves as specialists in the technical support service of intercom equipment, who offered the woman a free service to replace access keys.
During the conversation, the victim provided the attackers with the code from the SMS message necessary to enter the personal account on the State Public services portal. Gaining access to government services has allowed fraudsters to significantly expand their exposure to the victim.
After compromising the account, persons who introduced themselves as employees of various government agencies established contact with the woman. The "official representatives" were the alleged employees of the Public services, Rosfinmonitoring and the Federal Security Service.
Law enforcement agencies of the Krasnodar Territory reminded citizens of the need to observe precautions for telephone contacts with unknown persons. Particular attention is paid to the inadmissibility of providing confidential information by phone.
Cybersecurity experts recommend never reporting codes from SMS messages to outsiders, even when contacting on behalf of government agencies. Legitimate representatives of official structures do not require such information in telephone mode.[6]
A resident of Krasnodar transferred ₽14 million to telephone fraudsters who introduced themselves as FSB officers
A 32-year-old resident of Krasnodar became a victim of telephone scammers, giving them over ₽14 million after the attackers introduced themselves as employees of the Federal Security Service. Criminals accused the man of financing extremist organizations and forced to transfer all savings to a "safe" account. The incident became known in August 2025.
According to the official Telegram channel MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Russia of the Krasnodar City Administration, the victim turned to the duty station with a statement about fraud. The criminal scheme began with a call through a popular messenger, where unknown persons brought charges of sponsoring prohibited organizations.
The fraudsters presented the man with fake correspondence, allegedly testifying to his connections with criminal elements. After initial contact with the victim, persons who introduced themselves as FSB officers contacted, who confirmed the charges.
False intelligence officers convinced Krasnodar of the need to immediately transfer all funds to a special "protected" account to prevent their confiscation in a criminal case. Under psychological pressure, the man agreed to fulfill the requirements of the attackers.
To collect the required amount, the victim took drastic measures. He sold the car he owned, withdrew funds from various bank accounts and sought financial assistance from relatives. As a result of these actions, it was possible to accumulate more than ₽14 million.
The transfer of funds to attackers was carried out in three different ways. Part of the amount was handed to three couriers after uttering a special code word previously reported by the scammers. The man contributed the remaining funds in small portions through ATMs located in various areas of the city.[7]
An employee of a private clinic in Omsk gave ₽6 million to a telephone fraudster who introduced herself as a deputy head physician
An employee of a private medical clinic in Omsk transferred ₽6 million to fraudsters who introduced themselves as law enforcement officers and the administration of the hospital where she previously worked. Criminals used a scheme with simulated service checks and threats of criminal prosecution to force money transfers. This became known in August 2025.
The attackers initiated contact with the medical worker through the messenger, introducing themselves as the deputy chief physician of the hospital. The report reported an internal audit in connection with the alleged leakage of personal data of employees of a medical institution.
After initial contact, the woman received a phone call from a person who identified himself as an employee of the Federal Security Service. The caller reported an allegedly prevented attempt by fraudsters to transfer funds from the bank accounts of the victim to the territory of Ukraine.
The FSB false worker used psychological pressure, arguing that refusal to cooperate would entail criminal prosecution on charges of aiding terrorism. To prevent legal consequences, the fraudster offered to follow the instructions of the "banking specialist" and the "investigator."
During telephone conversations, the criminals convinced the victim of the need to close the existing bank account and open a new "protected" account. Swindlers justified these actions with security requirements and the prevention of unauthorized access to funds.
Believing the words of the fraudsters, the medical worker withdrew the accumulated funds and, through a mobile banking application, made a transfer to the details specified by the attackers.
On the fact of the crime committed, the investigating authorities opened a criminal case under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of Russia, which provides for liability for fraud on an especially large scale. This article provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to 10 years with a fine of up to ₽1 million.[8]
Muscovite lost 4 apartments for ₽50 million due to a call from a false district police officer
A resident of Moscow at the age of 78 became a victim of telephone fraudsters, who within six months forced her to sell four apartments in the capital and transfer cash to them totaling more than ₽50 million. The criminal scheme began with a call from a man who introduced himself as a district police officer, who convinced the pensioner that a crime was being prepared against her. This became known on August 17, 2025.
As reported in the official Telegram channel of the Moscow prosecutor's office, the fraudulent scheme began with a telephone call from a false district police officer to a 78-year-old woman. The pseudo-strongman gave his "new" phone number and warned the victim about possible calls from scammers.
The misled pensioner believed the attacker and began to follow his instructions. When the accomplices of the pseudo-strongman called the woman and began to demand money, she immediately contacted the false district officer for instructions.
The alleged policeman reassured the victim and explained that all her telephone conversations would be "tapped" by law enforcement agencies. He convinced the woman to comply with the requirements of "criminals," as this will help detain them during a special operation.
At the direction of telephone swindlers, the pensioner took from the house the existing savings in the amount of ₽800 thousand and placed them in the mailbox at the address that the attackers called her. In a similar way, fraudsters stole another ₽300 thousand from a woman, which she withdrew from her bank account at their request.
After receiving the cash, the swindlers told the victim that several "criminals" had already been detained and were cooperating with the investigation. To expose the rest of the members of the "criminal group" it was necessary to continue the "special operation."
A false soldier named Victor assured the woman that all real estate transactions are controlled by law enforcement agencies and are fictitious. Believing these words, the pensioner agreed to sell her property. At the direction of the calling fraudsters, the woman sold an apartment on Sannikova Street and housing in Chukotsky Passage. The victim also sold two apartments on Belomorskaya Street.[9]
In Samara, the doctor gave more than ₽900 thousand to telephone fraudsters, trying to open a "profitable contribution"
A 26-year-old doctor from Samara transferred more than ₽900 thousand to fraudsters after a phone call offering to open a "profitable bank deposit," believing the attackers and downloading a fake banking application to her phone. This became known on August 11, 2025.
The deception scheme began with a telephone call from unknown persons who introduced themselves as bank employees and offered the doctor to take advantage of a special offer to place funds for a deposit. Fraudsters used the tactics typical of such crimes to create a false sense of urgency and profitability of the offer.
The attackers sent the victim a link to a fake site that outwardly imitates the official Internet resource of a well-known credit institution. The fake web page was created to collect sensitive user data and looked convincing enough for an inexperienced internet user.
After clicking on the sent link, the woman was asked to download a mobile application for making a contribution. The application was malicious software designed to steal bank data and personal information of users.
Trusting the scammers, the doctor entered his bank card details into the fake application, including number, expiration date and security code. The information entered was immediately transferred to criminals who gained full access to the victim's bank account.
Having discovered the debits from the bank account, the woman realized that she had become a victim of a fraudulent scheme, and immediately turned to law enforcement agencies to file a crime report. Police officers registered an appeal and opened a criminal case on the fact of fraud.[10]
A resident of Voronezh gave ₽1 million to a telephone fraudster who called with "confirmation of an ultrasound record"
A 61-year-old resident of Voronezh transferred ₽1 million 55 thousand to fraudsters after a telephone call about the need to confirm the record for an ultrasound examination of the thyroid gland. The attackers used a multi-stage scheme of deception, starting with imitation of a medical service and completing with threats of criminal liability for an allegedly issued power of attorney for a citizen of an unfriendly country. On the fact of fraud, a criminal case was initiated under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of Russia. This became known on August 7, 2025.
According to the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Voronezh Region, the incident occurred on August 4, 2025. The victim appealed to the police department No. 8 of the Russian MIA Administration for Voronezh with a statement about embezzlement of funds by deception.
Initially, the woman received a call from a person who introduced himself as an employee of the clinic. The attacker reported the need to undergo an ultrasound of the thyroid gland and asked to name the code from an SMS message to confirm the recording. The gullible pensioner fulfilled the demand of the fraudster.
After some time, a second call followed from a man who called himself an employee of the anti-cyber fraud department. The swindler informed the woman about the threat of criminal liability, claiming that a power of attorney had been issued on her behalf for a citizen of an unfriendly country to finance the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The fraudster offered the only way to avoid punishment - to transfer all available funds to a special cell. Before that, the woman was advised to purchase a new mobile phone, which has not yet been "lit up" in tracking systems.
Frightened by threats, the pensioner immediately complied with the instructions of the attackers. Initially, she transferred part of the money to the account of fraudsters. Then, to "save" the remaining cash through the ATM, she made repeated transfers to the specified details.[11]
A resident of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug drove 200 km by taxi to Surgut to transfer ₽89 million to telephone fraudsters
A resident Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug covered a distance of 200 kilometers by taxi to transfer Surgut₽89 million to fraudsters under the pretext of protecting funds from illegal use. The police detained an accomplice of the swindlers - a resident Novosibirsk who received money from the victim at the direction of unknown organizers of the scheme. This was announced by the official representative MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Russia Irina Volk on July 31, 2025.
According to TASS, the criminal scheme began with a telephone call from an unknown person who introduced himself as an employee of the postal service and asked the woman to name the code from an SMS message. After receiving the code, the victim was contacted by persons who introduced themselves as employees of Rosfinmonitoring and the FSB of Russia.
Fraudsters convinced the woman that the attackers gained access to her personal account on the Public services portal. The swindlers said that the funds in the bank accounts of the victim could be used to finance illegal activities.
To solve the alleged problem, the woman was offered to transfer all savings to a special safe account. The criminals used video communication through the messenger, appearing in uniforms against the background of state symbols and showing fake documents with seals.
Believing the attackers, a resident of Ugra ordered a taxi and drove about 200 kilometers to Surgut to transfer funds in several parcels. She handed over the first parcel with ₽47 million in cash to a courier who introduced himself as an employee of the FSB of Russia.
After receiving the first part of the money, the fraudsters continued their psychological impact on the victim and demanded to secure the remaining funds. The woman agreed to a re-transfer and brought another ₽42 million to the appointed place and time.
The second transfer of funds was prevented by police officers who detained the courier at Surgut airport. The suspect was the resident of Novosibirsk who looked for a side job via the messenger.[12]
An endoscopist from Omsk transferred ₽2,3 million to fraudsters and sold the car, despite warnings from bank employees
An endoscopic doctor of one of the medical institutions of the Omsk region became a victim of fraudsters, losing ₽2,3 million and a car worth ₽800 thousand. The physician turned to the police with a statement about fraud after the attackers stopped communicating and did not return the car sold to him. This became known at the end of July 2025.
The fraud scheme began with a phone call allegedly from a delivery worker at a well-known shoe supermarket. An unknown person informed the doctor about the need to receive a parcel, although the physician did not order anything.
Despite the lack of purchases, the doctor decided to pick up the order and dictated a four-digit purchase code to the courier. This information was used by fraudsters to further develop the criminal scheme.
After the first call, the doctor was allegedly contacted by a specialist. Rosfinmonitoring The false worker announced an allegedly executed power of attorney for third parties who will be able to dispose of all the doctor's funds and transfer money to, Ukraine which is a criminal offense.
Then the doctor was contacted allegedly by an FSB officer who helped the doctor install a special application for transferring funds on his phone. The attacker convinced the doctor of the need to transfer money to a "safe account" to protect them.
The doctor visited a banking institution several times and withdrew ₽1,6 million to be sent to the details indicated by the fraudsters. Bank employees have repeatedly tried to convince the man that criminals posing as law enforcement officers can communicate with him.
Fraudsters provided possible warnings to bank workers and prepared an explanation. They told the doctor that they themselves are developing information materials to warn residents about fraudulent schemes and are working undercover.
The day after the transfer of all savings, the physician sold his car for ₽800 thousand. The doctor was convinced that he was transferring the car for reissuing documents as part of a special operation by law enforcement agencies.
The investigator opened a criminal case on the grounds of a crime under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of Russia - fraud on an especially large scale.[13]
Telephone scammers lured 825 thousand rubles from a Saratov doctor, intimidating with a criminal case allegedly for money "laundered" in the hospital
On July 10, 2025, the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Saratov Region reported that a local resident had become a victim of telephone fraudsters. The attackers lured 825 thousand rubles from the 75-year-old pensioner.
A resident of the village of Solnechny, who previously worked as a doctor, fell for the bait of the swindlers (the name of the victim was not disclosed). The incident occurred in early July 2025: in one of the messengers, a woman received a message allegedly from a "former colleague," who said that fraud had been carried out in the hospital for several years to launder funds, including by concluding fictitious contracts with employees. Then an unknown person who introduced himself as an FSB officer contacted the pensioner by phone. He said that the woman is among the suspects, since an account was previously opened in her name, from which more than 2 million rubles were subsequently used to finance illegal activities.
To avoid criminal prosecution and preserve personal savings, the pensioner was asked to transfer all available money to a "safe" account. Further, a false employee of Rosfinmonitoring contacted the former doctor, who gave the woman instructions for installing a certain application on a smartphone. After that, the victim discovered a debit from the account of 825,734 rubles.
The next day, unknown persons again called the pensioner under the guise of law enforcement officers and said that a loan of 300 thousand rubles had been issued for her, which, for a number of reasons, must be urgently repaid. At that moment, the woman realized that she had been deceived, advised telephone swindlers "to pay a loan from the money they had stolen from her earlier," and wrote a statement to the police. The criminal case was initiated under Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - fraud.[14]
Fraudsters lured "sensitive amounts" from 12 State Duma deputies, introducing themselves as vice speaker
Internet scammers managed to deceive several State Duma deputies by introducing themselves as vice speaker of the House of Parliament. This was announced on June 19, 2025 by the head of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications Sergei Boyarsky.
According to him, more than ten deputies became victims of cybercriminals. Fraudulent messages were received through a foreign messenger on behalf of the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma. At the same time, the attackers used an image that is freely available on the Internet.
 | Deputies of the State Duma were also divorced. I can tell you that these are about 12 people who were confused on behalf of the leadership for different, but sensitive amounts, one way or another, "Boyarsky said. |  |
Earlier, according to TASS, a court in Moscow sentenced an accomplice of telephone fraudsters from Ukraine, who collected money from Russian officials allegedly for charitable purposes. One of the victims of the actions of the criminals was a State Duma deputy. According to the case file, the members of the organized group received phone numbers of the heads of the authorities and department of the Russian Federation from unidentified sources. Then the attackers contacted the victims, posing as high-ranking officials, and reported deliberately false information about the need to provide urgent financial assistance to citizens under treatment. The victims were offered to transfer money as charitable assistance to bank accounts controlled by fraudsters. The accomplice of the attackers received 6 years in prison.
In addition, the deputy director of the department of the Eurasian Economic Commission and ex-State Duma deputy Bembya Khulkhachiev became a victim of fraudsters. His attackers deceived 13 million rubles.[15]
"Sberbank": 70 thousand people daily become victims of telephone fraudsters, transferring money to them
Up to 70 thousand people daily become victims of telephone fraudsters, transferring money to them. Such data were announced by Sberbank on June 19, 2025. According to Deputy Chairman of the Board Stanislav Kuznetsov, the scale of social engineering in Russia continues to grow, while the main channels remain calls from intruders posing as employees of banks or government agencies.
As Interfax reports with reference to Stanislav Kuznetsov, about 50-70 thousand people come across the tricks of telephone fraudsters every day and transfer their funds to them. Kuznetsov noted that this means the receipt of about 6-8 million calls daily to Russians from fraudsters.
In March 2024, the peak of fraudulent activity was recorded - 20 million calls were received daily by Russians. The schemes became more dodgy, and people began to believe the attackers more.
According to Sberbank statistics, 30% of Russians do not pick up the phone when they see an unfamiliar phone number. The deputy chairman of the bank considers this indicator very low and urges people not to answer numbers that they do not know.
Of those who pick up the tubes, 40% of people complete the conversation after hearing an unfamiliar voice. Another 30% continue to talk with unknown interlocutors.
Research shows that about 10 people out of 100 have a desire to send a phone scammer "far, far away." About 15% play the game, understanding the development of the situation, and sometimes fall for tricks.
About 5-6 people out of 100 sacred believe in what scammers tell them. It is this category that makes up the attention zone of telephone swindlers.
According to Sberbank statistics, one person out of 100 who received a fraudulent call will definitely transfer their funds to cybercriminals. The Bank bases its findings on an analysis of actual customer transactions.[16]
In Chuvashia, a businessman gave 60 million rubles to telephone fraudsters. They called on behalf of the intercom service organization
In early June 2025, it became known that a 67-year-old businessman from Chuvashia lost 60 million rubles, becoming a victim of telephone fraudsters. The attackers implemented a multi-stage scheme of deception, introduced themselves as employees of various organizations, including the FSB.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Chuvash Republic, on May 23, 2025, a resident of Novocheboksarsk received a phone call allegedly from an "employee of a doorphone service organization" who asked to provide a code from an SMS message to "receive a new key." Without suspecting deception, the entrepreneur dictated a sequence of numbers to the fraudster.
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After that, false specialists of Rosfinancmonitoring and law enforcement agencies contacted the entrepreneur. The man was informed that his savings were at risk. For persuasiveness, one of the scammers, disguised as an FSB officer, went on video contact with the victim in "uniform" and from the office with Russian state symbols on the wall. He advised the businessman to purchase a new phone for confidential negotiations with special services, which allegedly will help secure his savings.
Having fallen for the trick of telephone fraudsters, the pensioner for several days withdrew his savings from the account, convincing bank workers that he was going to purchase a new wagon. He transferred the funds to the crypto wallet indicated by the criminals. As a result, the man gave the attackers about 60 million rubles, having received a certificate in return that his savings were in the "special reserve fund" of the Central Bank.
Realizing that he was deceived, the entrepreneur turned to the police. The investigation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in Novocheboksarsk opened a criminal case under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud committed by an organized group or on an especially large scale).[17]
A psychiatrist from St. Petersburg gave fraudsters ₽32 million. She was called by a "doorphone master" and "FSB officer"
A 77-year-old psychiatrist from St. Petersburg became a victim of fraudsters and lost ₽32 million, believing in the need to declare funds. Unknown persons contacted a pensioner under the guise of employees of a doorphone replacement company, and then introduced themselves as employees of the Federal Security Service (FSB). The press service of the regional headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced this at the end of May 2025.
According to "Газета.ru," the swindlers convinced the doctor that her savings needed to be urgently transferred to couriers for declaration. A resident of the house on Liteiny Prospekt turned to the police of the Central District after she realized the scale of the incident.
According to the publication, fraud occurred from May 16 to 23, 2025. On the first day of the scheme, unknown persons introduced themselves as employees of the intercom replacement company, which created initial contact with the victim. After that, the scammers moved on to the main stage of the operation.
The attackers continued to communicate with the doctor, posing as FSB officers. They convinced the pensioner that her funds are under threat and require immediate declaration through special couriers.
On May 19, 2025, the victim handed over €100 thousand, $50 thousand and ₽4 million to the first unknown man. The courier placed the money in bags and fled the meeting place. Two days later, on May 21, 2025, the woman gave another accomplice of the swindlers another ₽10,8 million.
The total material damage from the fraudulent scheme amounted to ₽32 million 36 thousand 35. Fraudsters received cash in three currencies - rubles, dollars and euros. After receiving the funds, all the couriers disappeared, leaving no traces for an operational search.
Law enforcement officers are searching for the alleged defendants in the case.[18]
A scientist from St. Petersburg gave ₽43 million to a telephone fraudster who introduced himself as an employee of Public services
91-year-old resident of St. Petersburg Khanan Grigorievich, who survived the blockade of Leningrad, became a victim of telephone scammers and lost savings in the amount of ₽43 million. The attackers introduced themselves as employees of "Public services" and convinced the pensioner to transfer money to "protect against criminals." This became known in May 2025.
According to Kommersant, the deception scheme began on May 19, 2025, when the pensioner's wife received a call from an unfamiliar number. The voice introduced itself as an employee of "Public services" and said that her husband's service contract was ending. For extension, it was necessary to dictate the code from an SMS message.
The woman conveyed the request to her husband, who named the code without suspecting a trick. Two days later, the scammers contacted Hanan Grigorievich himself. The caller introduced himself as an employee of the "security department" and said that his wife's accounts had been hacked and money had been sent abroad.
The scammers assured the pensioner that the transfer had been stopped and assistance in the investigation was now needed. They convinced Hanan Grigorievich that in order to protect his wife from trouble, it is necessary to declare all available money and values.
Scammers asked to film cash and jewelry kept at home to avoid a search. The pensioner showed $246 thousand and €230 thousand accumulated over 20 years thanks to income from patents. He exchanged these funds for currency to preserve savings.
The attackers also learned about bank accounts and convinced to withdraw all the money for transfer through a courier. To receive cash, the code words "Yana" and "water" were used, which Hanan Grigorievich was supposed to name when he met.
From May 21 to May 27, 2025, the pensioner met with the courier several times, transferring large sums. First it was currency from home, then money from bank accounts. The total amount was ₽43 million.
On May 27, 2025, Hanan Grigorievich saw on TV a report on fraudulent schemes, which described a situation similar to his own. After watching the report, the pensioner realized that he was a victim of deception, and turned to the police.[19]
Professor of Moscow State University Boris Boyarintsev, who gave 53 million rubles to telephone fraudsters, committed suicide
On May 27, 2025, it became known that the former professor of Moscow State University, 78-year-old Boris Boyarintsev, committed suicide. He became a victim of telephone scammers, to whom he gave almost 53 million rubles. Read more here
Muscovite gave gold bars and coins for ₽148 million to telephone fraudsters who introduced themselves as employees of Rosfinmonitoring and the FSB
A pensioner from Moscow became a victim of telephone scammers, giving them gold bars and coins with a total value of more than ₽148 million. The attackers introduced themselves as employees Rosfinmonitoring and, FSB convincing the elderly man to transfer the values to the courier. This became known on May 20, 2025.
According to RIA Novosti, in mid-May 2025, the victim turned to the police department in northwestern Moscow with a statement about fraud. According to the pensioner, the day before he received a call from unknown persons who, posing as employees of the Federal Financial Monitoring Service and the Federal Security Service, convinced him to collect all available savings and transfer them to a courier.
As a result of the deception, the elderly man gave the fraudsters more than 300 collectible coins "Prince Alexander Nevsky," 200 coins "Yuri Dolgoruky," almost 200 gold coins "George the Victorious," as well as several gold bars. The total cost of the stolen exceeded ₽148 million.
On the fact of theft, a criminal case was initiated under the article "Fraud on an especially large scale." Law enforcement agencies conduct operational-search measures to identify persons involved in this crime.
This is not an isolated case of such fraud in Russia. In January 2025, a 70-year-old former traumatologist from the Buturlinovsky district of the Voronezh region gave swindlers 40 thousand dollars, 10 gold coins and three hundred-gram gold bars totaling about ₽5 million. Then the attackers also introduced themselves as law enforcement officers.
Security experts note an increase in the number of such crimes, when fraudsters impersonate representatives of government agencies. Older people are especially often victims, who, due to their age, are more gullible to persons representing themselves as employees of law enforcement agencies.[20]
In Moscow, a 12-year-old schoolboy handed over 5 million rubles to telephone scammers
On April 28, 2025, it became known that in Moscow a 12-year-old schoolboy gave more than 5 million rubles to telephone fraudsters. Attackers lured money from the child, threatening to jail his parents.
According to the Telegram channel Baza, the incident occurred on April 17, 2025. The boy's parents became concerned when he stopped answering the phone. The child left the school and did not show up at home. At the same time, the student answered the parents' questions with text messages, promising to explain everything when he returned. Without waiting, the adults reported the disappearance of their son to the police and began independent searches. Mom called the boy's friends and acquaintances, and his father drove around the area near the educational institution.
In
Parents also tried to establish the location of their son through apps on a smartphone. One of them allows you to hear ambient sounds: thanks to this, the student's father learned that his son was trying to exchange a five-thousandth bill in a pharmacy. Later, the parent heard the voice of a man who explained to the boy how to call a taxi. Then geolocation was activated on the child's smartphone, which showed that the student was in the Mytishchi forest. A few minutes later, a man called his father and said that the boy was going home in a taxi.
The child did come back unharmed. It turned out that earlier that day unknown persons contacted the boy. Posing as law enforcement officers, they informed the student that his parents were threatened with imprisonment. But this can allegedly be avoided if you take money from home and transfer it to "police officers" in the right place. As a result, the child gave the criminals 5 million rubles, $7 thousand and €2.7 thousand. The criminal case was initiated under the article "fraud."[21]
A student from Blagoveshchensk believed telephone fraudsters who introduced themselves as employees of the institute, and transferred them 10 million rubles
On April 16, 2025 MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Russia , the Amur Region Administration reported that a local student transferred more than 10 million to telephone fraudsters rubles stored in her bank account and owned by her father. The attackers deceived the girl by posing as employees of the university in which she studies. More. here
The Moscow pensioner gave ₽60 million to telephone fraudsters who introduced themselves as employees of "Public services"
An elderly resident of Moscow transferred more than ₽58 million to fraudsters, sold an expensive SUV and gave all his savings after a phone call from criminals who introduced themselves as employees of the Public services portal. This was announced by the Moscow prosecutor's office in early April 2025, recording one of the largest cases of telephone fraud in the capital.
According to RIA Novosti, an unknown person called the victim, who introduced himself as an employee of the Public services portal and asked if the man had translated ₽800 thousand. After receiving a negative response, the caller connected the pensioner with an alleged representative of the bank, who confirmed the unauthorized withdrawal of money and reported about an allegedly issued loan in his name in the amount of ₽19 million.
To solve the problem, the scammers suggested that the pensioner write a statement, and after receiving money to the accounts, cash it out and transfer it to the "collector." Within a few days, the man withdrew ₽20 million from the accounts and handed them over to false collectors who used the conditional code word.
The scheme of deception did not end there. After some time, the pensioner received another call from a person who introduced himself as a law enforcement officer, on whose instructions he removed and handed over to his accomplices an additional more than ₽21 million. The next day, fraudsters convinced an elderly person to hand over all his cash. As a result, he lost another $32 thousand and €28 thousand.
The scammers continued the deception, telling the pensioner that allegedly his Toyota Land Cruiser 200 car was in danger, since the vehicle had a second owner. To correct the documents and "save" the car, it allegedly had to be sold fictitiously. Following the instructions of the attackers, an elderly man sold his SUV for ₽4,5 million. He also transferred the proceeds from the sale of the car to the false collector.[22]
Telephone scammers on behalf of Russian Post employees lured ₽5,2 million from Comedy Club resident Andrei Beburishvili
Stand-up comedian and resident of the Comedy Club show Andrei Beburishvili in February 2025 became a victim of fraudsters who introduced themselves as employees of the Russian Post and federal departments. As a result of the deception, the artist lost ₽5,2 million. He announced this on the air of the Comedy Club program, released on March 23, 2025. Read more here.
Telephone scammers in Moscow, posing as employees of Rosfinmonitoring, lured 9 million rubles from the son of the ex-deputy chairman of Belgazprombank
On March 10, 2025, it became known that the son of the former deputy chairman of the board of Belgazprombank Sergei Shaban was a victim of telephone fraudsters. The attackers lured about 9 million rubles from 21-year-old Daniel Shaban, posing as employees of the Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring). Read more here
Telephone scammers lured ₽20 million from a member of the Academy of Sciences
Academician Anatoly Kozyrev lost ₽19,757 million, becoming a victim of telephone fraudsters. Honored Scientist of Russia and full member of the Academy of Mining Sciences of the Russian Federation transferred money to attackers from November 30, 2024 to January 24, 2025. On the fact of fraud on an especially large scale, the 84-year-old scientist filed an application with law enforcement agencies on February 7, 2025. Read more here
A teenager from Moscow handed over ₽200 million to telephone scammers
A teenager from Moscow handed over ₽200 million stolen from parental safes to telephone scammers. The incident occurred on February 25, 2025. Seventeen-year-old Mikhail, believing the attackers, independently opened several safes in the apartments of his parents and transferred the money to the couriers of the criminal group.
According to Riamo, the fraudulent scheme began on February 20, 2025, when the teenager received a call from false delivery workers. They asked to name the code from an SMS message, threatening to dispose of the parcel allegedly addressed to him. After the young man provided the requested information, other scammers who introduced themselves as employees of Roskomnadzor called him.
The caller said that the teenager's account on the Public services portal was hacked, and the attackers allegedly issued power of attorney to the accounts of his close relatives. The offender then claimed that the family's funds could be transferred to a terrorist organization, which intimidated the student.
Further development of events took place with the participation of a person who introduced himself as an "employee of the special services." He forced the teenager to independently conduct a "search" in his parents' apartments, find money and valuables there, and then transfer them to a courier.
On February 22, 2025, a schoolboy arrived at one of his parents' apartments, armed with a grinder, and opened a metal safe. He extracted ₽80 million and $400 thousand from the storage facility (about ₽36 million at the current exchange rate). The teenager put all the money in his bag, moved it to another apartment and in the evening of the same day handed it over to a courier sent by the scammers.
The next day, February 23, 2025, Mikhail visited another apartment of his parents. This time, he called in professional lock-breaking specialists who opened the safe. From there, the young man extracted another ₽50 million, which he also gave to the arriving courier.
The fraudulent scheme was revealed on February 24, 2025, when the family's housekeeper arrived at one of the apartments. Noticing the opened safes, she immediately informed Mikhail's mother. The woman went to the police with a statement about the theft.[23]
Telephone scammers lured ₽1,5 million from the police lieutenant colonel on behalf of the deputy head of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs
Former deputy head of the information center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Kirov region Elena B. On February 10, 2025, she became a victim of telephone fraudsters who introduced themselves as deputy head of the regional Ministry of Internal Affairs Alexander Vdovkin. As a result of illegal actions, the police lieutenant colonel lost more than ₽1,5 million. Read more here
Telephone scammers convinced Russian actress Elena Zorn to rewrite their apartment worth 50 million rubles in the center of Moscow
On February 11, 2025, it became known that the Soviet and Russian theater and film actress Elena Zorn was a victim of telephone scammers. The attackers forced the woman to re-register an apartment in the center of Moscow, the cost of which is about 50 million rubles. Read more here.
Telephone scammers lured ₽421 million from a resident of Samara
In Samara, fraudsters stole ₽421 million from a local resident, posing as law enforcement officers. This was announced on February 11, 2025 by the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Irina Volk. Three participants in the criminal scheme were detained in the case, another was put on the wanted list. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the criminals acted according to the classic scheme of telephone fraud, convincing the victim to transfer money to a "safe" account.
According to Prime, the scammers convinced the victim that they were trying to transfer funds from her account to finance the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Under this pretext, the woman cashed out all the savings and handed them over to couriers, allegedly for placement in a safe account.
One of the main defendants in the case is a 22-year-old resident of Saratov, previously convicted of extortion. He rented a house in Samara to accommodate accomplices and store stolen money. During the search, the phone used in the crime, ₽600 thousand and $300, was seized from him.
During the investigation, the police conducted searches in SolnechnogorskMoscow region, where the second suspect was found to have ₽1,8 million, a phone and a car allegedly bought with stolen funds.
The third participant in the scheme from Saratov managed to pay off a mortgage in the amount of ₽600 thousand. ₽860 thousand were found in his home. ₽255 thousand were seized from the fourth defendant, also a resident of Saratov with a criminal record for theft.
The detainees told the investigation that they found illegal work through the messenger. An anonymous employer suggested that they take money from people and transfer it to these accounts for a percentage of the amount.
Further losses were prevented by an employee of another bank, who suspected deception and reported to the police. A criminal case has been opened on the fact of fraud on an especially large scale. Employees of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Samara Region continue to search for the organizers of the criminal scheme and identify additional episodes.[24]
The son of Gazprom-Media CEO Zharov gave ₽65 million to telephone scammers
Fraudsters stole ₽49 million, $36 thousand and €133 thousand from Nikolai Zharov, misleading him by phone. The incident occurred on February 8, 2025. The victim is the son of the general director of Gazprom Media and the former head of Roskomnadzor, Alexander Zharov. According to law enforcement agencies, a 20-year-old second-year student at Sechenov First Medical University transferred funds to attackers acting under the guise of representatives of official structures. Read more here.
Telephone scammers on behalf of the FSB lured 9 million rubles from People's Artist of the USSR Gabriela Komleva
On February 7, 2025, it became known that the Soviet ballerina, choreographer-tutor of the Mariinsky Theater Gabriela Komleva became a victim of telephone scammers. The attackers lured more than 9 million rubles from the People's Artist of the USSR. Read more here.
The daughter of State Duma deputy Olga Krasilnikova gave telephone fraudsters 50 million rubles
On February 6, 2025, it became known that the daughter of the deputy chairman of the board of the public movement "For Saving the People," State Duma deputy Olga Krasilnikova, was a victim of telephone fraudsters. The attackers lured 50 million rubles from a 21-year-old girl, intimidating her with criminal liability for financing the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). Read more here
Telephone scammers lured 19.5 million rubles from General General Staff of the RF Armed Forces Gridnev, posing as MGTS officers
On February 6, 2025, it became known that retired Lieutenant General of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation German Gridnev was a victim of telephone fraudsters. The attackers lured almost 20 million rubles from an 85-year-old man. Read more here.
Telephone scammers lured 10 million rubles from the top manager of Kaspersky Lab, posing as FSB and Rosfinmonitoring officers
On February 1, 2025, it became known that the top manager of Kaspersky Lab, Veniamin Ginodman, had become a victim of telephone scammers. The attackers lured about 10 million rubles from the man. Read more here.
Telephone scammers lured ₽1,2 million from Russian skier Platon Islamshin
19-year-old Russian skier Platon Islamshin became a victim of telephone scammers who, posing as representatives of the Russian Ski Federation and the FSB, stole ₽1,2 million from the athlete. This became known on January 27, 2025. Read more here.
Telephone scammers lured 465 thousand rubles from actor Plato Pobegailo
On January 22, 2025, it became known that theater actor Plato Pobegailo was the victim of telephone scammers. The attackers lured almost half a million rubles from him. Read more here
2024
344 thousand Russians suffered from telephone fraudsters, the share of pensioners - 23.9% (data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs)
In 2024, about 344 thousand people became victims of telephone fraudsters in Russia, posing as employees of various call centers. Of these, the share of pensioners is estimated at 23.9%. Such data were published on February 11, 2025 by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.
According to Danil Filippov, Deputy Head of the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, most often people aged 25 to 44 become victims of cybercriminals. Such citizens actively use various instant messengers, marketplaces, electronic settlement systems and social networks, leaving a lot of personal data on the Internet. This leaves them vulnerable to intruders.
In
According to Filippov, the idea that people of retirement and pre-retirement age suffer primarily from cybercriminals is a stereotype. At the same time, more often than other victims of fraudsters are residents of cities with a high population density and a developed economy - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Moscow Region, Krasnodar Territory.
The most common type of phone fraud Bank of Russia is said to be calls on behalf of law enforcement officials or with recommendations to transfer money to a "safe account" due to problems. cyber security Calls on behalf of university employees or some organizations, including large companies, are also widespread. Attackers are actively exploiting the topic, Public services trying under various pretexts to lure out the victim's SMS code for passage on the two-factor authentications portal. After gaining access to the account, various cheating schemes can be implemented.
| | A very serious direction is pseudo-investments. The victims are offered to engage in cryptotrading, they invest, and as a result, there is nothing there except a site with a shell of the "exchange," adds Filippov.[25] | |
Muscovite gave ₽90 million to telephone fraudsters, cashing out shares and selling an apartment
An elderly Muscovite at the age of 86 handed over to telephone fraudsters about ₽90 million received from the sale of an apartment on the Enthusiasts highway and cashing out bank shares. The prosecutor's office Moscow TAdviser got acquainted with this information in December 2024.
According to the official telegram channel of the Moscow prosecutor's office, in November 2023, an unknown person called the pensioner, who introduced himself as an investigator and reported the threat of theft of her savings by unidentified persons.
During the year, the woman received calls from attackers posing as law enforcement officers and banking workers. At their direction, the victim withdrew from accounts amounts from ₽300 thousand to ₽23 million and transferred them to arriving couriers.
According to the prosecutor's office, in order to receive additional funds, the fraudsters forced the pensioner to sell her apartment on the Enthusiasts highway and cash out bank shares. The woman also gave all the money received to the criminals.
After realizing the fact of fraud, the victim turned to law enforcement agencies. The prosecutor's office controls the establishment of all the circumstances of this crime.
Law enforcement agencies warn citizens about the need to be vigilant when receiving calls from unknown persons calling for cashing out savings, selling real estate or transferring funds to couriers.
The supervisory authority emphasizes that such fraud schemes are becoming more sophisticated. Criminals skillfully manipulate the fears of people, especially the elderly, using convincing legends about protecting savings.[26]
Telephone scammers who called on behalf of the FSB and the Central Bank lured ₽146 million from a Muscovite
Fraudsters who introduced themselves as employees of the FSB and the Central Bank stole funds from an 83-year-old resident of Moscow totaling ₽146 million, the victim reported the incident to law enforcement agencies. This became known in mid-December 2024.
According to the telegram channel Baza, the attackers called the pensioner in early December 2024. An unknown person, who called himself an FSB officer, informed the woman about the alleged impending transfer of money from her accounts to finance illegal groups and offered cooperation with the investigation.
For eight days, an elderly woman withdrew funds from her deposits and her husband's accounts, after which she transferred them to unknown persons in the courtyard of her own house. For conspiracy, the attackers set the password "Winter" when transferring money.
The victim realized that she had become a victim of deception only after leaving for a summer cottage in the Moscow region. After that, the woman turned to law enforcement agencies with a statement about the crime committed against her.
On this fact, the investigating authorities began an inspection. This crime is included in the category of especially grave due to the large size of the stolen funds. For such crimes, Russian legislation provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to ten years.
Law enforcement agencies regularly warn citizens about such fraud schemes and remind that state officials never call citizens demanding to transfer money or transfer it to unknown persons. When such calls are received, it is recommended to immediately stop the conversation and contact the police.[27]
The head of the economic security department of the cancer center in Moscow gave telephone fraudsters ₽85 million
The head of the economic security department of the Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology fell victim to telephone fraudsters, transferring ₽84,6 million to them. The crime committed between October and November 2024 became known on November 26, 2024. Read more here.
Ex-financier of the Voronezh project institution handed over ₽24,35 million to telephone fraudsters
On November 15, 2024, it became known that the former 67-year-old financier of one of the engineering companies in the Voronezh region became a victim of telephone fraud, losing ₽24,35 million. This was reported by the press service of the GU MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Russia in the region. A criminal case has been opened on the fact of the incident. More. here
Ex-adviser to the President of Bashkiria transferred more than ₽5 million to telephone scammers after the FSB call
Former adviser to the President of Bashkiria and ex-deputy of the State Assembly - Kurultay of the Republic Viktor Pchelintsev became a victim of telephone fraudsters, transferring ₽5,2 million to attackers. The incident took place in Ufa. This became known at the end of October 2024. Read more here.
Fraudsters lured ₽100 thousand from State Duma deputy Mikhail Kislyakov, threatening to publish correspondence from a dating site
Fraudsters lured ₽100 thousand from the deputy of the State Duma of Russia Mikhail Kislyakov, threatening to publish his correspondence from the dating site. The official reported the incident to the police after the extortion attempts continued. This became known on October 29, 2024. Read more here
Telephone scammers stole ₽5 million from the famous artist Alexander Yulikov, using deepfake and the theme of neo-Nazism
In early October 2024, it became known that telephone scammers stole more than ₽5 million from the famous artist Alexander Yulikov using deepfake technology and the theme of neo-Nazism. The incident occurred in September 2024. Read more here
How telephone scammers lured 2.7 million rubles from the former press secretary of the Moscow Puppet Theater. Obraztsov
The former press secretary of the Obraztsov Moscow Puppet Theater became a victim of telephone fraud, losing ₽2,7 million. This became known in September 2024. The criminals, posing as the director of the theater and FSB officers, deceived the woman and received a large sum of money. The incident occurred within a few days, when the victim was at a dacha in the Moscow region. Read more here
Larisa Dolina sold a 5-room apartment and gave 180 million rubles to fraudsters
In mid-August 2024, it became known that the Soviet and Russian pop singer, actress, People's Artist of the Russian Federation Larisa Dolina became a victim of fraudsters. She sold her apartment in Moscow and gave the attackers savings totaling about 180 million rubles. Read more here
Telephone scammers lured 29 million rubles from the teacher of the PRUE im. Plekhanov
In early August 2024, it became known that the English teacher of the Russian University of Economics named after G.V. Plekhanov (REU) transferred 29 million rubles to fraudsters. Cybercriminals deceived a woman using a scheme with the head of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDC, a terrorist organization banned in Russia). Read more here.
The star of the series "Soldiers" gave phone scammers all the savings
On June 11, 2024, it became known that actor Mikhail Gorsky, known for his role in the popular TV series Soldiers, was the victim of telephone scammers who convinced him to transfer all his savings to a "safe" account. This was announced by the Telegram channel "Baza." Read more here.
Petersburg physicist gave telephone fraudsters 1.9 million rubles for "registration of patents" in "Russian Wikipedia"
On June 9, 2024, it became known that in St. Petersburg, a famous physicist became a victim of telephone fraudsters. Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yevgeny Alexandrov transferred 1.9 million rubles to the attackers, which they allegedly requested to register his patents in the Russian Wikipedia program. Read more here.
Telephone scammers lured 6.5 million rubles from the ex-deputy governor of the Smolensk region, who was responsible for information security
In early June 2024, it became known that the ex-deputy governor of the Smolensk region, Nikolay Kuznetsov, had become a victim of telephone fraudsters. The attackers managed to lure 6.5 million rubles from him. Read more here.
Telephone scammers convinced the ex-general director of the CSKA handball club that he broke the site with prostitutes, and lured 330 thousand rubles from him
On May 28, 2024, it became known that the former general director of the CSKA handball club Anatoly Volosov was a victim of telephone scammers. The attackers lured 330 thousand rubles from him under the pretext that he broke the site with prostitutes. Read more here.
The first deputy chairman of the State Council of Crimea transferred 45 million rubles to telephone fraudsters who introduced themselves as employees of the Central Bank
First Deputy Chairman of the State Council of Crimea Efim Fix transferred 45 million rubles to telephone fraudsters who introduced themselves as employees of the Bank of Russia and law enforcement agencies. This became known in May 2024. Read more here.
Opera singer Liubov Kazarnovskaya gave telephone scammers 895 thousand rubles
On February 15, 2024, it became known about telephone fraud, from which the famous opera singer Liubov Kazarnovskaya suffered. Swindlers lured 895 thousand rubles from her. Read more here.
Fraudsters informed the wife of the ex-governor of the Moscow region about hacking her account on Public services and lured her 2 million rubles
The wife of the former governor of the Moscow region Boris Gromov Faina became a victim of telephone scammers. This became known on January 26, 2024. Read more here.
2023
The Central Bank of the Russian Federation told who most often suffers from cyber fraudsters
In February 2024, the Bank of Russia told who most often suffers from cyber fraudsters. The study was conducted in November 2023. More than 395 thousand people took part in it. People were asked questions about whether they were satisfied with the security of banking services and services, what types of cyber fraud they encountered, and how aware they were of the rules of safe financial behavior.
According to the regulator, in 2023, the victim of fraudsters most often became:
- woman
- between the ages of 25 and 44
- middle-income
- with secondary education
- having a permanent job.
According to the materials of the Central Bank, in 2023 the share of women among victims of intruders was 11 percentage points higher than men and amounted to 55.5%. In 2022, the opposite situation was observed, although the advantage towards men was small (0.8%).
The age of the main part of the victims is from 25 to 64 years. At the age of 20-24, 8.3% faced fraudsters, at the age of 25-44 - 37.8%, 45-64 years old - 28.4%, from 65 years old - 15.4%.
Among the respondents, 25.9% have higher education, 41.3% have secondary education, and 32.8% have general education. The level of wealth among victims of cyber fraudsters is most often average (44.8%), low and high - in 27.8% and 27.4%, respectively.
The Central Bank's study also says that 64.1% of those affected by the actions of attackers in 2023 lost less than 20 thousand rubles, 17.9% of victims lost from 10 thousand to 100 thousand rubles, 9.9% missed from 100 thousand to 500 thousand rubles, and 4.3% of victims fraudsters stole more than 1 million rubles.
In addition, the Central Bank noted that 87.6% of respondents, when interacting with attackers, did not succumb to their tricks and did not commit any actions.[28]
Professor of Krasnoyarsk Medical University gave telephone fraudsters 8.7 million rubles
Professor of the Krasnoyarsk Medical University (KrasGMU) became a victim of swindlers. On September 9, 2023, the press service of the regional prosecutor's office was told about how this happened. Read more here.
Telephone scammers have stolen 11 apartments and 156 million rubles from Moscow pensioners since the beginning of the year
Since the beginning of 2023, telephone scammers have stolen 11 apartments and 156 million rubles from Moscow pensioners. This was announced on August 24, 2023 by the metropolitan prosecutor's office in its Telegram channel.
As noted in the department, the swindlers misled the residents of the capital, assuring that they were suppressing criminal actions against real estate. At the same time, the age of the victims ranged from 63 to 84 years.
| | Crimes were committed according to the same scheme: a call from the "bank" or from "law enforcement officers" with a proposal to transfer the amounts in the accounts to "safe" accounts. Then the scammers reported that criminal acts were being committed against real estate and cars and they needed to be sold urgently. The victims transferred the funds from the sale and personal savings to "safe accounts," the Moscow prosecutor's office said in a statement. | |
So, an 84-year-old pensioner was called by a "bank employee" and said that he, together with law enforcement agencies, was trying to catch fraudsters. To do this, you need to withdraw all savings and transfer to a "safe account." The pensioner tied the attackers' bank card to his mobile application, after which he and his wife cashed out all savings and transferred it to a "safe account." After making transactions at the direction of "false banker," the card was removed from the application. At the same time, the attackers asked the pensioner to be in touch with them, forbade interrupting the conversation while in the bank and answering anyone's questions.
Then the scammers reported that someone was committing illegal actions with a three-room apartment on Mozhaisk highway and it was urgently necessary to sell it. The caller said that the deal is fictitious, the money will be returned, and they will find the buyers themselves, pensioners only need to collect all the documents for the deal. Then two men came to the apartment, took photos, and later brought buyers and accompanied the deal. In a similar way, the attackers forced the spouses to lay down the car. As a result, more than 20 million rubles became the prey of fraudsters.[29]
The entire team of an agricultural enterprise in Irkutsk sent 3 million rubles to fraudsters
In May 2023, it became known that telephone scammers "shooed" the entire team of an agricultural enterprise in Irkutsk. First, they called the 38-year-old manager and convinced her to take out a loan, and then transfer all the money to a "safe account." The woman turned to her colleague for help, and they went to the bank together. On the way to the bank, the fraudster "processed" a colleague.
After that, the attacker assured the women that the rest of the employees could lose money. Irkutsk women returned to their workplace and everyone was told the alarming news, after which the whole team went to the bank to take loans and transfer money to fraudsters. Together they gave the fraudsters more than 3 million rubles.
In Moscow, Ukrainian fraudsters drove a pensioner to suicide
They persuaded him to take out a loan and re-register the apartment. They contacted 61-year-old Igor Yuryevich. The man was forced to take a loan of 3.5 million rubles in order to invest this money in the International Monetary Fund, Baza wrote in May 2023. The pensioner fell for a trick and issued a loan, but the fraudsters' tricks did not end there - unknown persons began to persuade the pensioner to re-register the apartment.
On the evening of May 16, 2023, a man sent a strange SMS to his wife: "Call the police at home, sorry, give up your apartment. Then they will close the loan. " The woman immediately called the police and went to Igor's outfit, but law enforcement officers did not have time. The pensioner's apartment was not locked, the man's body was found in the bathroom.
Directors of the flight control center of Rossiya Airlines deceived 12 million rubles
According to Shot in May 2023, 58-year-old Andrei Peret was at home when an unknown person called him and introduced himself as a police captain. A voice on the tube reported that there have been many cases of fraud recently. And Andrei has money in his accounts, so he will be recruited from the Central Bank and told how to protect himself.
Further, the classic scheme: a girl called Andrei and said that applications for loans as much as 12 million rubles were submitted on his behalf. You can only save yourself in the only way: take these loans on your own and transfer money to "safe accounts." Peret did everything he was told to do.
Associate Professor MPEI robbed of 2.1 million rubles
A new victim of telephone scammers was a 61-year-old associate professor at the Moscow Energy Institute. During the class, his colleague entered the audience and said that soon the deputy head of their profile ministry would call the assistant professor himself.
At the end of the lecture, an unknown person really called the man in the "cart," introduced himself as an official, said that now FSB officers would contact him, and ordered them to strictly comply with all their requirements. The disgraced teacher believed that he was communicating with a man from the ministry, and then successfully went to the classic scheme with calls from "special services and the Central Bank," who advised to hide all the savings from "persons financing terrorism to a safe account."
The man removed all his savings and, as the curators ordered, threw them through an ATM onto the card of the very colleague who accompanied him on alarming "adventures." As soon as this happened, the card was blocked. As a result, the teacher lost 2.1 million rubles. Now the police are looking for fraudsters, and also find out whether the teacher's colleague turned out to be an accomplice or became a victim of deceivers himself, writes Shot.
Ukrainian fraudsters robbed the head of the Sukhoi UAC brigade of 3.6 million rubles
Ukrainian fraudsters robbed the head of the brigade from the UAC Sukhoy"" Larin. A messenger from the alleged "Central Bank" came to him - an ordinary guy of about 25 years old in a hood, jeans and a jacket. He uttered the cherished "Hugo," received several packs of money and hastily went to "save" them.
After that, an employee of the Sukhoi UAC transferred another 500 thousand to the "reserve" account, but a few days later, when the man stopped transferring money (they simply ended), his interlocutors suddenly disappeared. It was then that Larin realized that he gave the unknown a total of 3.6 million rubles.
In Istra, a pensioner named Lopukh gave 800,000 rubles to fraudsters
According to Shot, an 85-year-old man received a call from an unknown person from several numbers - he introduced himself as an employee of the Investigative Committee, the police and the FSB and said that his grandfather's accounts would be arrested due to the actions of fraudsters. To protect savings, you need to transfer everything to another personal account - cash out and transfer it to the courier with the code word "Love."
On the appointed day and hour, the pensioner reached Moscow, cashed out the money and handed over the savings to the courier - a young dark-haired guy in a gray jacket, after which he began to wait for an SMS notification. The money did not arrive at the new account, so the gullible grandfather had to contact the police.
The Ukrainian swindlers persuaded the graduate student to set fire Historico-literary to the museum of the city of Pushkina
Ukrainian scammers persuaded graduate student Alexei Gribanov from St. Petersburg to set fire to the Historical and Literary Museum of the city of Pushkin. According to him, he thought that he was performing the task of the FSB and would avoid a fraudulent loan.
The Pushkin District Court of St. Petersburg in April 2023 arrested Gribanov for two months on charges of hooliganism for political reasons.
According to investigators, Gribanov doused the building with combustible liquid and set it on fire. He did this, according to the press service, with "unidentified accomplices." The man was detained near the site of the arson.
According to Fontanka, Gribanov is 25 years old and a graduate student at St. Petersburg Polytechnic University. During interrogation, Gribanov said that unknown persons asked him to set fire to the building by phone, promising to prevent the criminals who allegedly issued a loan for Gribanov.
At first, the callers persuaded him to set fire to the military commissar's military registration and enlistment office and car, but Gribanov refused.
During the arrest, Gribanov managed to shout a "Ukrainian patriotic greeting" and expected that after that the FSB officers would congratulate him on the successful completion of the task.
In early April, a pensioner was detained in Sverdlovsk Pervouralsk under similar circumstances, who was trying to set fire to the military registration and enlistment office. According to her, she thought that she was participating in a "classified operation against terrorists" at the request of the FSB. There were 16 similar stories in Russia.
Almost 45 million were stolen from the former first deputy chief of staff of the State Duma
In April 2023, it became known that fraudsters lured almost 45 million rubles from the former first deputy chief of staff of the State Duma in 4 months, writes 112. A man who introduced himself as an employee of the Central Bank called a former official on WhatsApp. He said that the account of 78-year-old Yuri Alekseevich mistakenly received money that must be returned. Bezverkhov agreed and revealed to the scammers personal data and confirmation codes from SMS messages.
In several tranches, from November 2022 to March 2023, the criminals transferred money from the victim's accounts in two banks. The ex-official did not even notice this - he was at the dacha, then he was in the hospital. The man only found out that the savings were missing when he was in the bank.
The director of "Good night, kids!" Kirill Baryshnikov stole 1.7 million rubles
The director of "Good night, kids!" Kirill Baryshnikov was stolen 1.7 million rubles, writes Baza in April 2023. Fraudsters pretended to be employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and convinced him to transfer money in order to protect them from a loan issued for him. The director realized that he was deceived only three days later.
An official from the Moscow region was deceived by fraudsters on behalf of the governor and the government, who offered to take the post of her boss for 2.5 million rubles
38-year-old Tatyana works as deputy chairman of the Forestry Committee of the Moscow Region. When the official was on vacation in 2023, she received an SMS on behalf of the assistant to one of the deputy chairmen of the Russian government with a request to call back. The sequel is here.
Muscovite deceived by 11 million rubles
To Moscow In Olga WhatsApp , an investigator called, and then an employee of the Central Bank. They told the woman about a big leak from banks and scared her by zeroing her accounts. They convinced her to transfer about 1,000,000 to the rubles map and mortgage the Mazda car in a pawnshop.
Soon Olga received a call from a certain Igor Doinikov from the "Moscow UK" - he warned about fraudsters trying to take away her apartment, and convinced her to recruit microloans with debts of 1.1 million rubles and their woman also sent to the "investigator."
Doinikov asked to issue an urgent purchase of an apartment for 9 million. Then Olga was disturbed by a call from a stranger. She bitterly announced the death of Doinikov during execution and for the sake of safety asked to urgently burn the phone, two laptops, a TV and even a slow cooker, filming it.
Olga really made a whole fire on her balcony and recorded a video thanking the "employees" for preserving her property. At the same time, in the video she had to thank Pannochka, A.B Uebok and Igor and send everyone greetings from the mammoth, which the woman did. Its losses amounted to 11.7 million.
Directors of the Department of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation deceived 3.8 million rubles
In March 2023, it became known that 60-year-old Vladimir Shtop, who heads the administrative department in the Ministry of Finance, received a call from an unknown number. The man introduced himself as "an employee of VTB Artyom Naumenko" and said that someone, using the official's power of attorney, is right now trying to get a loan in his name. We need to urgently transfer money to a secure account.
Shtop went to GUM on Red Square to an ATM and withdrew 3.8 million rubles in different branches, transferred them to three unknown cards through the terminal and only then realized that he had become a victim of fraudsters. The police are checking, writes Shot.
Fraudsters stole 3 million rubles from a famous mathematician with the help of a fake signature Nabiullina
In March 2023, it became known. That 92-year-old Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation Konstantin Brushlinsky telephone swindlers introduced themselves as investigators and reported suspicious operations on his card, which were allegedly promptly canceled by the Central Bank.
To further convince the pensioner, the scammers the next day sent a courier to him with forged documents, certified by seals and the signature of the head of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina. Then the attackers lured 3 million rubles from the famous scientist within two weeks.
Ex-Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation deceived almost two million rubles
Until 2001, Nikolai Mikhailov served as First Deputy Minister of Defense of the PF, and after leaving the service, he joined the board of directors of AFK Sistema. On March 16, 2023, Mikhailov allegedly received a call from VTB Bank's security service on Whatsapp and said that an unidentified person had changed his phone number in the system.
Under the strict control of the fraudsters, Mikhailov went to the bank branch, withdrew 1.9 million rubles and transferred them to a specially issued reserve account, writes Baza.
The senior inspector of the Academy of the Ministry of Emergency Situations took loans and transferred 1.3 million to fraudsters
31-year-old Artyom, a senior inspector from the Academy of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, received a call at the end of January 2023. A "Central Bank employee" at the other end of the tube stunned the sniffer by the fact that several transactions allegedly passed from his account, and the money went to support the troops of Ukraine. Worse still, the same thing happened to his wife, and now the couple faces a criminal case and a long prison term.
After the "Central Bank officer" Artyom received a call from an "FSB officer" and persuaded the man to take out several loans and install a remote access program on his phone. In a few days, the inspector transferred 1,300,000 rubles to the criminals. Only after, when the "Fsbshniki and bankers" began to persuade Artyom to take a new loan in order to avoid a criminal case, he guessed everything and went to the police, writes Baza in February 2023.
A Muscovite stole a Bulgari bracelet for 500 thousand rubles, forging a friend's voice on the phone
At the end of January 2023, it became known that fraudsters, using advanced digital technologies, were able to steal a Bulgari bracelet worth half a million rubles from a student from Moscow.
It is reported that 23-year-old Stanislav ordered a decoration with natural diamonds from Dubai, paying 430 thousand rubles for it. But for some reason, the girl did not wear the bracelet and decided to put it up for sale on the ad site for 500 thousand rubles. She was contacted by a buyer who said that he was ready to purchase the product. Following the negotiations, the man sent his driver to buy, promising to transfer money to a bank card.
When the car drove up to the agreed place, the buyer said that there were errors when transferring funds and offered to send money to the card of a friend of Stanislav. The girl agreed, warned her friend and gave her phone number to the man. Soon after, an acquaintance called Stanislava back, saying that the money had arrived. The girl gave the bracelet, and an hour later it turned out that the transfer had not been made.
In this deception scheme, attackers used two IT technologies at once. One of them is the substitution of a mobile number: the call received by Stanislav looked like it was really made from a friend's phone. In addition, fraudsters used a system for imitating someone else's voice like the Microsoft VALL-E neural network-based tool. This is exactly what misled the girl. Apparently, the attackers managed to obtain samples of the voice of Stanislav's friend during negotiations on the issue of the bank card number for the transfer of funds. Experts have repeatedly warned that artificial intelligence-based algorithms to simulate voice could become weapons in the hands of intruders. For example, VALL-E is able to recreate a person's voice based on a speech sample lasting only three seconds.[30]
2022
Fraudsters convinced a pensioner to sell an apartment and give them almost 14 million rubles
At the very end of November 2022, a 77-year-old resident of Mitino, Vyacheslav Nikolaevich, received a call from a man who introduced himself as an employee of the Central Bank. He said that fraudsters were encroaching on his account with savings and convinced them to transfer them to other details in order to save funds. So the pensioner lost 690,000 rubles. A few days later, the grandfather was contacted allegedly by a police colonel and said that the scammers had sold his apartment. Then he was recruited by a "lawyer of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation" and explained that the apartment needs to be sold in order to buy it back with the proceeds.
The pensioner signed the documents on the sale, withdrew the money and sent them to fraudsters. So on the very New Year, an elderly Muscovite was left without housing.
Fraudsters deceived a pensioner three times and received more than one and a half million rubles of her mobilized son
The head of the police of the Northern District of Moscow arranged a distribution of subordinates because of the pensioner. Fraudsters deceived her three times and received more than one and a half million rubles of her mobilized son writes Baza. They want to punish a policeman for this - because he allegedly poorly explained to the woman the methods of criminals.
The first time 72-year-old Nadezhda Salvarovna from Moscow called in May. Then an unknown person introduced himself as a law enforcement officer and convincingly asked to translate 20 thousand. The woman did so, and then realized that she was deceived, and turned to the police - they accepted the statement and recommended that no one else send money. However, the story repeated itself in mid-December, when a certain "security officer" of the bank called Nadezhda Salvarovna and offered to download a special application to protect money on his phone. At the same time, Nadezhda Salvarovna decided to protect the savings and mobilized son, installing the program on his phone.
As a result, the woman discovered that 197 thousand rubles had disappeared from the man's account. Soon the police accepted the second statement from the pensioner and again gave her a lecture about the fraudsters. But Nadezhda Salvarovna still continued to communicate with the criminals, sending them another one and a half million of her son by the end of December.
Her case was separately raised at the meeting, after which the police chief arranged for the subordinates to be sent off, they say, how you work with the victims. In January 2023, employees are looking not only for fraudsters, but also for someone to blame for their ranks.
A resident of the Moscow region gave fraudsters almost a million rubles for fear that her money "will be transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine"
40-year-old Tatiana often called from unfamiliar numbers. The woman usually did not pick up the phone, but on December 20, 2022 she decided to answer. The caller introduced himself as an employee of the internal affairs bodies. He said that they were trying to get through to Tatiana on an important matter, but for some reason she did not answer - and easily got into trust.
"Silovik" said that Tatiana is in danger. Like, some scammers got access to her accounts and want to steal her savings in order to transfer them to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And this, according to current laws, pulls on a criminal case. To prevent the criminals, the woman needed to take out a loan and send money to a "safe" account.
So she did - she sent 885 thousand rubles to the scammers. Interestingly, they bothered Tatyana to buy a push-button phone so that she would keep in touch with them and "not be distracted by the Internet." In addition, the scammers asked to send her photos of five thousandth bills in order to remove them from the marked register, writes Baza.
A man from Severodvinsk lost 9 million rubles while trying to make money on cryptocurrency
He received a call from a "bank employee" and offered to make money on cryptocurrency. The man registered on the crypto platform, transferred 9 million rubles, which he borrowed from banks and friends. Then in December 2022, the platform "failed," all financial transactions disappeared from the personal account, and the "managers" stopped communicating.
In Moscow, fraudsters deceived a pensioner for 700 thousand rubles, promising her help from Alexei Miller and Mikhail Mishustin
In mid-November 2022, an elderly resident of Moscow played a game on her mobile phone and caught her eye with an advertisement promising financial assistance to pensioners from people such as Gazprom head Alexei Miller and Prime Minister Mishustin. The woman followed the link and left her full name and phone number.
Ten minutes later, the first fraudster called her. He promised to give it to a "good state analyst" who would make it rich. A 15 minutes later, the "analyst" himself contacted her, who convinced her to transfer 15 thousand rubles to Qiwi to begin with, writes Baza. Ten days later, the same man called the pensioner and said that things were going well. To make them even better, he convinced her to "replenish the brokerage account."
The woman went to the bank and transferred her savings in the amount of 370 thousand rubles to the specified details through an ATM. Five days later, the same "analyst" again recruited a pensioner and persuaded him to take out a loan for another 300 thousand rubles.
Deception of a HSE teacher for 2 million rubles
Mikhail Karpov, a teacher at the Higher School of Economics, fell for the classical scheme of deception. On October 29, 2022, he received a wake-up call - a "Central Bank employee" wanted to talk to Karpov. He explained to the teacher that his money was at risk, so it should be sent to a secure account.
Fraudsters called Karpov from different numbers, posing as employees of different departments. In the end, they were able to separate the man in the amount of 2 million rubles. Karpov collected cash and handed it over to a courier near one of the houses on Nizhny Novgorod Street and only then realized that fraudsters had taken possession of his money, writes Baza.
The collector of Sberbank transferred 21 million rubles to telephone fraudsters
In September 2022, it became known that Sberbank collector Sergei Chesnokov gave 21 million rubles to telephone fraudsters, believing that he was being called from the Bank of Russia.
During a telephone conversation, the collector driver was convinced that he urgently needed to violate the protocol and transfer the money to the indicated accounts. Chesnokov transferred 21 million rubles to unknown persons.
The collector's version was not believed: he was detained, a theft case was opened. And a few days later, the words of the collector were confirmed, the swindlers were calculated: under the guise of the Central Bank, 19-year-old Ayrat Karimullin from Kazan and 20-year-old Irina Dick with a friend Gleb Prokinverda from Omsk acted. A fraud case has been opened.
Fraudsters from the "security service of the Central Bank" convinced a scientist of the Russian Academy of Sciences to give them 30 million rubles
A researcher at the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences became a victim of fraudsters who introduced themselves as specialists of the "security service of the Central Bank." This became known on September 5, 2022.
As a source in the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow told RBC, a 64-year-old man, a researcher at the Federal State Budgetary Institution of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Academy of Sciences, contacted the police department in the North Butovo district, who said that an unknown person called his mobile number, who introduced himself as an employee of the security service of the Central Bank of Russia. They called under the pretext of suppressing unauthorized write-off of funds. " Fraudsters convinced the man to pick up $200 thousand, €200 thousand and 30 million rubles from a bank cell located in the central office of Sberbank on Vavilov Street.
Realizing that he had become a victim of fraudsters, the man turned to the police. A criminal case was initiated on the fact of fraud on an especially large scale (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code, the maximum punishment is up to 10 years in prison).
This is far from the first case of major fraud, when the victim is allegedly called from the Bank of Russia. In early September 2022, the Orenburg Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that in Orsk an elderly woman believed the fraudsters, transferring about 1.4 million rubles to them.
The attackers introduced themselves as security officers of the Central Bank and law enforcement agencies. The woman was convinced that they were trying to write off money from her account.
Having fulfilled the instructions of the fraudsters, a resident of Orsk withdrew 500 thousand rubles from the account. She listed them to the attackers. After that, unknown persons persuaded her to withdraw 485 thousand rubles from the funded deposit. When the scammers received this amount, they decided to deceive the Orsk woman one more time.
The callers informed the pensioner about an attempt to take out a loan to her account. Allegedly, in order to prevent this, you need to draw up this agreement with the bank yourself. Thus, she took 414 thousand rubles and transferred them to the "safe" account by the callers.
When the son came to the woman, he realized that his mother had been deceived. After that, the family turned to the police.[31]
The daughter of the Russian President's Press Secretary Peskov was deceived by telephone swindlers
At the end of August 2022, it became known about the telephone fraud faced by Elizaveta Peskova. This was told at the educational forum "Knowledge" by her father, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov. Read more here.
Telephone scammers lured 1.2 million rubles from the deputy head of the Federal Tax Service of Russia
As it became known on May 13, 2022, telephone scammers stole 1.2 million rubles from the deputy head of the Federal Tax Service (FTS) of Russia Svetlana Bondarchuk. According to TASS, citing a law enforcement source, unknown persons contacted Bondarchuk and introduced themselves as employees of Sberbank and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. They convinced her to transfer funds to "safe accounts," which the victim did. Realizing that she was deceived, she wrote a statement to the police, the agency said in a publication. Read more here.
Telephone scammers disguised as calls from the Central Bank lured 1 million rubles from the ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater
As it became known on May 4, 2022, telephone scammers lured 1 million rubles from the ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater Tatyana Osipova. She, as reported by the Moskva agency, turned to the police on May 3 and said that the swindlers convinced her to issue consumer loans, withdraw funds and transfer them to the accounts indicated during the telephone conversation. Read more here.
2021
Telephone scammers cheated Russian billionaire Sergei Sudarikov
In mid-December 2021, it became known about the telephone fraud faced by billionaire Sergei Sudarikov. The owner of the Region group of companies and the co-owner of the Rossium concern transferred a considerable amount to the attackers. Read more here.
Deception of Atomenergoproekt top manager for 9.3 million rubles
In October 2021, law enforcement officers conduct an investigation into fraud against the deputy head of Atomenergoproekt. The top manager claims that he was deceived by telephone scammers from the "security service" and withdrawn 9.3 million rubles to the "safe account."
Phone fraud causes Americans to lose record amounts
In late May 2022, Truecaller announced the results of a study conducted in collaboration with The Harris Poll. The report highlights trends in spam and phone fraud that are increasingly infiltrating the US. According to scientists, as a result of telephone fraud, a record $39.5 billion was stolen from Americans in 2021.
According to the study, 33% of Americans reported being targeted by phone scammers, and 20% more than once. Among those who lost money as a result of telephone fraud in 2022, the average loss was $577, which is 14.94% more than in 2021 $502. 61.1% of these people were deceived by robocalls.
The study shows that despite Federal Communications Commission (FCC) efforts to regulate through the STIR/SHAKEN system (a set of FCC standards aimed at protecting Americans from robocalls and scammers), about 68.4 million Americans have been targeted by phone scammers in the past 12 months, suggesting that scammers are circumventing government regulation and finding more sophisticated ways to deceive victims.
Men are subjected to fraud more often than women since the beginning of 2021, 55.6% of those who were victims of telephone fraud were men, while among women there were only 42.2%. As in previous years, the results of the study showed that younger men were more likely to lose money through phone fraud than older men, especially those aged 18-34 years 46% and 35-44 years 51%, compared to men 45-54 years 24%.
About 63% of Americans believe they may miss legitimate calls because they suspect it is spam and don't respond. In the case of fraud, 43% of people reported downloading a spam-blocking app or number identifier to protect themselves. At the same time, 25% of respondents reported that they missed legitimate commercial calls due to their blocking, i.e. extreme or inaccurate spam filtering - this proves that many spam filters do not work accurately. It also hints that improved caller ID, more accurate spam analytics, and future call screening innovations are important to improve the communication environment.
Fake neighbors, i.e. spam calls to someone with the same area code, have become more frequent over the past year: 51% of respondents replied that they observed an increase in the number of such smart robocalls. Despite taking action to combat this type of fake, only 7% of respondents said they had seen a decline in robocalls with the same area code over the past year.
| | This year's results are alarming and shed light on the fact that fraudsters and swindlers continue to cheat on increased government regulation. In addition, since many robocalls come from abroad, the strengthening of regulation should work in parallel with technological advances provided by number identifiers and spam blocking applications such as Truecaller, said Truecaller CEO Alan Mamedi. | |
86% of Americans said they only try to answer calls if they can identify the person or business from which they are calling. In addition, 60% of Americans prefer to use other ways to communicate, such as text messages, social media, apps and email, to avoid phone calls entirely. Modern forms of communication requiring less immediacy are becoming increasingly preferred.
Young people choose to take action by downloading the Spam Blocker/Caller ID apps, while over-65s choose to cancel credit cards/change account numbers after being duped. In addition, the report notes that people with higher income levels are more likely to take action after losing money through phone fraud.[32]
2020
Fraudsters stole a record 400 million rubles from a bank client in the Russian Federation
On May 18, 2021, it became known about a record amount of theft of money from one bank client in Russia. We are talking about 400 million rubles, which the woman withdrew from the account and transferred to fraudsters in 2020.
Sergei Veligodsky, head of the anti-cyber fraud department of Sberbank, announced this on the sidelines of the visiting meeting of the State Duma working group on the development of proposals to combat crimes in the field of information and communication technologies. He noted that the victim was not a client of Sberbank. At the same time, Veligodsky did not name the name of the credit institution in which the victim of a large fraud kept his funds.
According to a representative of Sberbank, the criminals called the 54-year-old woman, posing as security officers from her bank, and said that they would "save her money." She told them that she had 14 million rubles on her account, to which the attackers replied:
| | Great, we take it, remove it and carry it. | |
After that, the woman said that she had another 380 million rubles in an account with another bank. The fraudsters said the amount was large and switched it to the so-called "employee FSB."
| | They are like: we will not communicate with you now, this money is very serious. Now the "FSB officer" will call you and will deal with you. She received a call from the FSB and then began to unwind her. And so she withdrew this money for a month and sent it to the "rescuers," Veligodsky retold this case (quoted by RBC). | |
According to a study by the Tinkoff group, in 2020, fraudsters stole an average of 13.9 thousand rubles from Russians at a time, which is 8% less than a year ago. According to FinCERT, in 2020 the number of fraudulent transactions with Russian accounts increased by 34% compared to 2019, the amount of money transferred to fraudsters increased by 52.2% over the year[33]
OTP Bank has compiled a social portrait of the victim of telephone fraudsters
OTP Bank specialists have identified typical features of customers who can get into the network of telephone fraudsters, and recommend that the most vulnerable categories of customers more often remember the rules of personal cybersecurity, the Банки.ру portal reported in December 2020.
Every year in the New Year period, bank customers receive a large number of calls from telephone scammers trying to steal funds from their accounts, and in 2020, scammers began to increasingly use social engineering methods, posing as bank employees. According to the Central Bank, such methods account for 83.8% of the total number of attacks on bank customers.
It turned out that the most often victims of telephone criminals are men, and people who are married fall for the tricks of social engineering twice as often as unmarried. People under 33 and over 68 are more likely to fall into the network of criminals. In addition, scammers are more likely to try to contact credit card holders. The most vigilant clients of OTP Bank live in the Far East, and the most gullible - in the southern regions and in the Urals.
Notes
- ↑ Police of the Voronezh region
- ↑ At the direction of the fraudsters, the pensioner bought a watch worth more than 27 million rubles and handed it over to the courier
- ↑ Muscovite lost housing and 28 million rubles, transferring funds to fraudsters
- ↑ Investments led a resident of Arsenyevsky district to the loss of more than 4 million rubles
- ↑ In St. Petersburg, a fraudster lured 20 million from a pensioner by introducing himself as governor
- ↑ 23 MIA
- ↑ A resident of Krasnodar gave fraudsters more than 1️⃣4️⃣ million rubles
- ↑ A doctor of a private clinic from Omsk became a victim of fraudsters and lost 6 million
- ↑ For half a year of communication with telephone swindlers, the capital's pensioner lost more than 1 million rubles and FOUR apartments in Moscow
- ↑ A doctor from Samara lost more than 900 thousand rubles due to fraudsters
- ↑ Medical service for a code from SMS: a resident of Voronezh transferred over a million rubles to swindlers
- ↑ In Ugra, a woman drove 200 km by taxi to give fraudsters 89 million rubles
- ↑ Endoscopist transferred 2.3 million rubles to fraudsters and sold the car, despite warnings from bank employees
- ↑ A pensioner from Saratov believed telephone swindlers and transferred her savings to a "safe" account
- ↑ Sergey Boyarsky: fraudsters deceived deputies, calling themselves vice-speaker of the State Duma
- ↑ Sberbank said that 50-70 thousand people transfer money to telephone fraudsters every day
- ↑ An entrepreneur from Novocheboksarsk transferred about 60 million rubles to fraudsters
- ↑ Psychiatrist gave scammers 32 million rubles
- ↑ Inventor-electrician from St. Petersburg handed over 43.4 million rubles to fraudsters
- ↑ In Moscow, a pensioner gave fraudsters jewelry worth 148 million rubles
- ↑ Baza
- ↑ In Moscow, a pensioner gave fraudsters about 60 million rubles
- ↑ The schoolboy opened the parents' safes with a grinder and sent 200 million rubles to the scammers
- ↑ Fraudsters stole over 421 million rubles from a resident of Samara
- ↑ The Ministry of Internal Affairs told who more often becomes victims of cybercrime
- ↑ Pensioner communicated with telephone scammers for a whole YEAR and handed over almost 90 million rubles to couriers
- ↑ 146 (!) Million rubles were given to fraudsters by a pensioner from Moscow. Grandmother was convinced that all the money from her accounts goes to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
- ↑ There is a stereotype that only pensioners become victims of scammers
- ↑ In the first seven months of this year, Muscovites sold 11 apartments at the direction of telephone fraudsters.
- ↑ With the help of a fake voice of a friend, fraudsters were able to steal a Bulgari bracelet worth half a million
- ↑ Fraudsters from the "security service of the Central Bank" convinced the scientist to give them ₽30 million
- ↑ $39.5 billion lost to phone scams in last year
- ↑ Sberbank told about a record amount of theft from one client
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