Age differences: scammers are 1.5 times more likely to attack children
Children and teenagers in Russia have been massively attacked by scammers. In the first half of this year, the number of daily attacks on them increased 1.5 times compared to the last months of 2024, participants in the information security market told Izvestia. Summer is the "high season" for such criminals: they call and write to minors under the guise of school staff, university admissions officers, military enlistment officers, and the like. The attackers target parents' money and valuables, children's social media accounts, which are later used to commit crimes, and teenagers are also involved in droppery. How to protect children from criminal attacks — in the material of Izvestia.
How scammers deceive children and teenagers
The number of daily fraudulent attacks on children and teenagers in the first half of 2025 increased by almost 50% compared to the second half of 2024. Peter Alferov, Beeline's anti-fraud director, told Izvestia about this.
— The number of daily fraudulent attacks on people aged 14 to 20 increased by almost 50% in the first half of 2025 compared to the second half of 2024. So, if last year there were an average of 1,430 such attacks per day, then in 2025 there were 2,140," he says.
According to him, scammers usually present themselves as employees of the school, the Ministry of Education or the military enlistment office, or members of the examination or admissions committee. Further, depending on the legend, the scammers urgently require the child to sign a document or register on the educational portal, and to do this, click on the link, name the code from the SMS or turn on the screen demonstration.
"He can also report an incident with his parents: allegedly they were taken to the hospital or the police, and in order to help them, the child needs to give money or valuables to the courier,— Pavel Alferov added.
After the first call with a request to dictate the code, an alleged Roskomnadzor specialist may enter the "game", who detected suspicious activity, he continued. Or an "investigator" who suggests that the child urgently — via video link — make an inventory of all valuables in the apartment so that they are not stolen, and then "for safety" transfer the most expensive items to the courier. There is also a version with an alleged FSB officer who tells a child that he has just made a transfer in favor of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and now his parents will be imprisoned.
Beeline also provides specific examples of how scammers extort money from children.
— A 15-year-old girl received a call from a Swedish number and was lured away by a code from "Public Services". This was followed by a Telegram call from an alleged employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who said that a loan had just been taken in her name in favor of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In the next few days, in the same place, in the messenger, people "from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB" urged her to close the loan — they even held video conferences with "representatives" of both departments. In the end, she transferred a large amount from her father's credit card to the scammers, and the scammers instructed her via video," the operator's representative said.
Another child was sent a message from an alleged school nurse on Telegram asking him to get vaccinated and attached a file to fill out, which contained a virus to hack the account.
As Izvestia wrote, cybercriminals also use dating chatbots to deceive teenagers in order to steal their parents' funds. In addition, underage Russians are being recruited to commit dangerous crimes by order of Ukrainian curators.
— We are increasingly recording attacks aimed at children and teenagers, and this is not surprising — they spend a lot of time on messengers and social networks, where it is easier for scammers to "hide" under the guise of a teacher, an employee of a government agency or even an examination board. Such attacks are becoming more sophisticated, and our task is to detect and prevent them in time," said Andrey Sidenko, head of Online Child Safety at Kaspersky Lab.
In the first half of 2025, cyber attacks on schoolchildren increased by 30% compared to the same period in 2024, and malicious attacks through fake games increased by 60%, estimated Igor Bederov, founder of the Internet Search company, NTI SafeNet market expert. He also noted that fraudsters actively disguise themselves as representatives of schools, examination boards, military enlistment offices and the Ministry of Education. For example, after the Unified State Exam, offers of "accelerated enrollment" in universities or the sale of "exam answers" became more frequent, he said.
Preparation for exams, university admission, increased attention of military enlistment offices to applicants and the beginning of summer holidays are all factors of the expected seasonal increase in fraud activity against children and adolescents, said Fedor Chunizhekov, head of the Positive Technologies research group.
Potential droppers can also be searched on social networks and messengers, and even offline at ATMs. All that is needed for such illegal activities is a bank or SIM card, so children over the age of 14 are at risk, warns Arseny Epov, director of the safe space service for children at Membrana Kids. Scammers often lure teenagers by manipulating their sense of self-importance or offering easy earnings, he added.
As told to Izvestia in Megafon, account rental schemes are also popular: the child receives a small monetary reward for providing his messengers or social networks to intruders who use them to spread information through the contact list. In addition, scammers use children as intermediaries to cash out or transfer stolen funds, the representative of the operator added.
In particular, Lomonosov Moscow State University issued a warning about possible fraud for applicants in its Telegram channel.
"The attackers contact by phone on behalf of the admission committees of the faculties of Moscow State University and propose to amend the application for admission or register for the DVI (additional entrance examinations. — Izvestia) via a text message code. They also suggest other questionable operations or actions," it says.
Izvestia sent inquiries to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
How to protect children from cybercriminals
According to a sociological study conducted by the Mikhailov and Partners agency. Analytics" together with Solar Group of Companies, 81% of teenagers have faced fraud attempts over the past year, Solar told Izvestia. More than half of the respondents (56%) received calls ostensibly on behalf of the bank, 40% — on behalf of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other government agencies. Social networks and messengers are actively used: every second respondent (53%) received messages from strangers in messengers or social networks, 41% from hacked accounts of acquaintances, 39% followed links in Telegram channels and groups on social networks.
The first and most important thing is to talk confidentially and openly with children about the dangers of the Web, advises Andrey Epov from Membrana Kids.
— You can tell us that you can't share any personal information about yourself or your family with strangers, and give examples of how scammers can deceive a child. The main thing here is to convey an important message: in case of any suspicions or concerns, he can turn to his parents for help," said Andrey Epov.
It is very important to explain to children that neither the school nor government agencies will demand money or personal data through calls, messages or messengers, added Andrey Sidenko from Kaspersky Lab. If there is even the slightest doubt, you need to stop and double—check the information - with your parents or through official contacts.
— Do not trust the "free" offers. Game currency, cheats, or mods on third—party sites are often malicious. Download games only from official stores. Check the domains. Fake websites copy the design of the official ones, but they have errors in the name," Igor Bederov from the Internet Search company shares his recommendations.
He advises against sharing personal information, card numbers, passwords, and addresses. Parents can be advised to set up SMS notifications about payments from children's cards and transactions on their accounts, as well as monitor their digital activity, the expert concluded.
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