Where does the theft begin?

The "Non-Moscow" Encyclopedia of Protection from Telephone Fraudsters

Fraudsters make six to seven million calls per day to Russians' phones. NeMoscow has compiled a list of the most common methods used by criminals to gain their victims' trust and initiate a conversation.

Don't think that only pensioners fall for the "old scams": their share of the total number of victims is just over 20 percent.

Read it yourself, forward it to your children, parents and friends.

Seven million calls isn't a high figure. In March 2024, Sberbank recorded over 20 million calls per day (and that remains a world record).

Fraudsters call under a variety of pretexts: it could be an "FSB major" trying to prevent scammers from taking out a loan, or a "housing maintenance worker" asked to hand out "new intercom keys."

There are countless ways to start a conversation with a victim and gain their trust. But the final outcome of the scam is usually the same:

• Fraudsters call back in a new guise, posing as employees of the State Services, a bank, or law enforcement agencies.
• They say that the victim had previously dealt with a scammer and now her savings are at risk.
• To save the money, they offer to transfer it to a "safe account." Or "declare it." In exchange, they might even issue a receipt and a guarantee to return everything.

According to statistics, scammers most often call impersonating FSB or Ministry of Internal Affairs officers. The second most common scam is calling impersonating an employer/supervisor (the scammers can even impersonate their voice).

About 40% of fraud cases involve hacking Gosuslugi accounts. By doing so, criminals gain access to personal data, which helps them pin loans on the victim.

Russians most often lose money after communicating with scammers over the phone (more than 45% of cases). Next come attacks via instant messaging (15%), private messages on social media (10%), and email (7%).

By the end of 2024, the most common victims of fraud were not pensioners or children, but women aged 25 to 44 with an average income and a high school education, living in the city and holding a permanent job. This represents approximately one in three victims.

Fraudsters can continue to operate even after they have been given all the available money: they convince you to take out a loan, sell your apartment or car.

In some cases, the victim is promised the return of the missing money if they commit a terrorist attack: setting fire to a police station, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, or an ATM.

Scammers prey on two main emotions: greed or fear. They gain your trust by talking about large transfers, monetary compensation, and generous gifts. Or, conversely, they threaten you with account hacking, account blocking, or attempts by scammers to take out a loan in your name. These are all red flags that should alert you. It's best to end the conversation.

If you haven't done this, the next stage will likely be escalation of the situation and phrases like "urgent!", "you only have two hours left!" - such words make you rush, panic, and lose your guard.

NeMoscow has compiled a list of the most common scams used to start conversations. We'll be updating the encyclopedia, and you can help us by sharing your experiences by sending stories to our Telegram bot. @nemoskva_bot