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- Nothing human: scammers attack residents of the DPR under the pretext of providing social services
Nothing human: scammers attack residents of the DPR under the pretext of providing social services
Hackers are actively attacking the population of Donbass, local residents and cybersecurity companies told Izvestia. One of the latest topics was water shortages — scammers create websites where you need to register to receive water delivery, leaving your personal information. The attackers also use schemes that offer assistance in changing documents or bank cards and accounts. About what scammers are trying to profit from in the new Russian regions and how they are fighting them, see the Izvestia article.
How the residents of the DPR are being deceived
Fraudsters attacked residents of the Donetsk People's Republic by creating fake websites for applications for water, the Solar AURA Monitoring Center for external digital threats, Solar Group, told Izvestia. At the end of August 2025, during the All-Russian Forum "Development of Small towns and Historical settlements", the head of the DPR Denis Pushilin and the head of the Ministry of Construction Irek Fayzullin announced water shortages in the region.
— Today, the biggest problem we have in one of the four new regions is water. We have difficulties in the Donetsk People's Republic," the minister said.
In September 2025, cybersecurity companies in the republic discovered a phishing website for collecting personal data using the news topic about problems with water supply in Donetsk. The victim of the deception was asked to fill out an application form for water, specifying passport data with full name and residential address.
"This information can later be sold or used by intruders to steal funds," said Alexander Vurasko, Director of Development at the Monitoring Center for External Digital Assets.
In addition, the owner of the same domain has created another fake online resource for transmitting testimony and paying for housing and communal services. The service requires connecting to a Telegram bot, which requires not only a full name, phone number, and address, but also a passport number, INN, or SNILS.
— All this data and possible money transfers will immediately get to the scammers, — Alexander Vurasko warned.
The transition period on the territory of the DPR and LPR, complicated by infrastructural problems, has become convenient for fraudsters to work, local residents confirmed to Izvestia.
— The re—registration of all types of property and the simultaneous reissue of personal documents is complicated by the fact that all-Russian services began operating in the republics not so long ago and the vast majority of the population does not yet know how to use them, - said one of the interlocutors of the editorial office. — Another important factor was the fact that until recently only one mobile operator worked on the territory of the DPR.
And since for a long time there was only one bank operating in the territory, which remains the main one even now, telephone fraudsters immediately call this credit institution, the DPR resident added.
As a result, calls offering assistance in registering something or completing documents became common forms of fraud.
— Scammers keep track of current issues. For example, when the process of online re-registration of phone numbers had not yet been completed, and the operator's offices could not cope with the flow of applicants, calls were allegedly made on behalf of the operator with an offer to register via SMS," said a local resident.
Now, according to him, water supply has become one of the most important issues in the DPR.
— Water is supplied to subscribers irregularly, — the interlocutor of Izvestia added. — At the same time, as with other housing and communal services operators, subscribers are being re-registered and legal entities are being changed. Accordingly, scammers call residents, create phishing sites, links to which are posted in local publications.
What other schemes are used?
Fraudsters regularly create fake websites where they can allegedly apply for a Russian biometric passport, Alexander Vurasko added. This attack scheme is aimed, among other things, at residents of the new regions — the Lugansk and Donetsk People's Republics.
"Scammers do not disdain any methods to achieve their goals, using people's fear and gullibility," he said. — This is another reminder of how important it is to be vigilant: read news only from official sources and do not trust suspicious sites.
In September, the scammers started calling people on behalf of the MFC staff, trying to get personal information.
And in February and June 2025, the office of the republican Rospotrebnadzor reported that "unidentified persons pose as Rospotrebnadzor employees and commit illegal acts against citizens, convincing them of the need to issue bank cards and transfer funds to a courier for a new bank card."
In June of this year, the local prosecutor's office warned that an increase in fraud committed in the field of information and telecommunication technologies had been registered on the territory of the DPR.
"In case of telephone fraud, as a rule, fraudsters on behalf of employees of Russian banks inform the potential victim about unauthorized debit of funds from bank cards or talk about the need to block the bank card. Next, after entering the trust, they are asked to provide certain card details of the owner or an SMS code received on his phone. After that, funds are debited from the bank account," they added.
The attackers also act on behalf of close relatives, acquaintances, and colleagues of the victims and ask for the transfer or transfer by electronic payment of a certain amount of money to resolve the unfavorable situation in their lives.
Artyom Sheikin, first deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and state Construction, noted that telephone scammers use topics that are particularly sensitive to residents of Donbass.: water supply disruptions, replacement of documents, communication and banking issues.
"However, as you know, this is a pressure tool designed to collect personal data and undermine trust in government agencies,— he stressed. — The main task is to provide the residents of Donbass with protection and confidence that the state guarantees their security, including in the digital environment.
The DPR Interior Ministry stressed that the police have modern methods of countering IT crime and warns of criminal liability for both commission and complicity.
"It is recommended to refrain from committing crimes, not to carry out any operations with the found bank cards, not to issue SIM cards, organizations, bank cards and current accounts in your name in order to transfer them to third parties. Remember that current legislation provides for penalties for IT crimes up to 10 years in prison," the agency's official website says.
How to solve the problem with scammers
In the new regions, scammers are extremely resourceful, said Ekaterina Kosareva, managing partner of the VMT Consult analytical agency. They use specific and non-specific triggers that are characteristic of all regions.
"One of the specific ones is 'health care,'" she said. — They pose as a doctor from the social assistance service and sell products of unknown origin under the guise of miraculous medicines. As a rule, the victim is forced to apply for a loan for the purchase. There is a huge reservoir of all kinds of fraud in the field of offering communication services, repairing power grids, plumbing, banking services, and so on. This is how intruders gain trust, and then there is the classic scheme: urgent loans or theft of valuables or money from home.
Sometimes scammers present themselves as an employee of a Russian bank from the top 10, who is just entering a new region, with an "interesting" offer to develop a base. For example, you can open a card with a Russian payment system to receive certain benefits. This is followed by either a link to a phishing site or an "SMS code".
— Recently, by the way, scammers forbid calling the code to employees, only to robots, allegedly to strengthen security measures, — the expert explained. — Also, a relatively new type of fraud is the transfer of cars from Europe for personal needs. Citizens of new regions are most vulnerable to this scheme. As a rule, attackers use Telegram. Next, they take possession of users' personal data for their own purposes and convince the victim to pay a relatively small fee.
An integrated approach is needed to counter such schemes, Senator Artem Sheikin emphasized.
"It is important to establish effective monitoring and operational blocking of phishing resources," he said. — It is necessary to develop targeted digital literacy programs specifically for residents of new regions.
It is also necessary to clearly define specific official channels of access to information and services — web resources, hotlines, mobile services through which citizens can receive assistance without the risk of becoming a victim of fraud, the parliamentarian added.
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