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St. Petersburg Court Orders House Arrest for Two in Child-Targeted YouTube Fraud Case

Investigators describe a scheme that targeted preteens through a video blog to harvest bank details under the guise of selling Standoff 2 in‑game currency.

Overview

  • The Oktyabrsky District Court placed Sergey Sidorenko and Stepan Chudin under house arrest until November 27, 2025.
  • Judges rejected investigators’ request to remand the defendants in custody.
  • Authorities allege the group funneled children from YouTube streams into messenger chats, where they solicited photos of parents’ bank cards and SMS codes.
  • Investigators attribute at least 10 fraud episodes to the group and say three suspects were detained in different Russian regions during searches.
  • The court press service cites a loss of 113,000 rubles for one victim’s mother, and officials report the defendants have given confessional statements.