Russia Warns of New Social-Engineering Scams as Moscow Police Announce Arrests and High-Loss Teen Case

Overview

• The Interior Ministry warned that callers posing as driving school administrators solicit one-time authorization codes, with additional phishing via fake education websites and Telegram channels demanding urgent prepayments.
• Once a code is disclosed, fraudsters simulate account hacks, claim data leaks, and introduce fake law enforcement to pressure victims to transfer funds or reveal assets.
• Moscow police detained six suspects in an online registration scheme that took upfront payments before returning documents with supposed refusals, with at least five victims and losses exceeding 500,000 rubles; a fraud case under Article 159 has been opened.
• Investigators reported a separate case in which scammers posing as delivery workers defrauded a 16-year-old of more than 5 million rubles after remotely compromising a home safe over four days, with one suspect detained and a case opened under Article 159, Part 4.
• A jurist told RIA that actors allegedly from Ukraine are testing Gosuslugi-branded emails about logins from Kyiv to lure callers to trap numbers, a claim reported without official confirmation.