Nearly Half of All Fraudulent Call Centers Operate from Prisons

Almost half of all fraudulent call centers are based in prisons, with the total monthly income of these criminals exceeding 75 million rubles. According to Stanislav Kuznetsov, Deputy Chairman of the Board at Sberbank, “It’s not just individual criminals calling clients, but employees of professional contact centers. About 40-50% of these are located in prisons. We have recorded that fraudsters are present in nearly every third correctional facility in Russia,” he said in an interview with the newspaper Izvestia.

Kuznetsov explained that a single call center with 50 “employees” can make around 20,000 calls per week. Potential victims answer the phone in about half of these cases, but 70% of people refuse to talk to the scammers.

Measures to Combat Prison-Based Call Centers

Regarding efforts to fight call centers operating from prisons, Kuznetsov noted that the State Duma has passed a bill in its first reading that introduces a procedure for blocking cellular communication in prisons. It is expected that mobile operators will disable service at the request of the head of the regional branch of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN).

Increase in Fraud Reports

The Deputy Chairman also mentioned that this year, the number of Sberbank clients reporting phone fraud has doubled compared to 2019. Bank employees have recorded about 2.9 million reports from clients about attempted scams.