Fraudsters Increasingly Call Russians Posing as Law Enforcement Officers

According to anonymized user reports from Kaspersky Who Calls*, the number of suspected scam calls in Russia quadrupled in April 2021 compared to December 2020 – February 2021. In these calls, scammers pretended to be employees of government agencies, law enforcement, or financial regulators. The peak of this activity occurred at the end of March and the beginning of April, and a high level of fraudulent activity continued into May.

Common Scam Tactics

Most often, users reported that scammers introduced themselves as employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, police officers, investigators, or representatives of the Central Bank. According to Vitaly Vorobyov, an analyst at Kaspersky Who Calls, “Fraudsters are constantly changing their tactics. For example, there have been cases where scammers posed as bank employees and offered to install a so-called special security app on the phone instead of asking for card details, or they asked victims to transfer money to a ‘safe’ account. Now, they are increasingly pretending to be government officials. This catches people off guard and convinces them that the issue needs to be resolved quickly. That’s why we never recommend making hasty, emotional decisions. It’s better to take time to understand the situation.”

How Scammers Try to Convince Victims

“In the spring, the number of calls supposedly from law enforcement agencies increased rapidly. This story allows scammers not only to convince the victim to take action but also to keep it secret from their loved ones. During conversations, scammers try to sound as convincing as possible: they use an official tone, legal terminology, warn about consequences for refusing to cooperate, are often persistent, sometimes promise to send a summons, and stick to their story even if they are not believed,” says Sergey Golovanov, Chief Expert at Kaspersky Lab.

How to Protect Yourself

• Stay vigilant and install security solutions on your devices.
• Even if the caller sounds convincing, write down their information, hang up, and call the official number of the organization they claim to represent.
• Never make decisions in haste or under emotional pressure.

*Kaspersky Who Calls is a service that helps users identify suspicious or unwanted calls.