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Fraudsters put pressure on trust, fear and a sense of duty, and then cut off the student from their parents and force them to perform commands.
The most dangerous call for a teenager may sound not as a threat, but as a request to help the country. A person on the line appears to be a police officer or security, says confidently, demands secrecy and turns a normal crime into a “special mission.” The child thinks that he helps adults and the state, but in fact performs the instructions of fraudsters.
In the GU of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in Moscow for such cases use the expression “pioneer syndrome”. The head of the press service of the capital’s head office Vladimir Vasenin said that teenagers who commit crimes under the influence of scammers often are motivated by a patriotic impulse and readiness to help law enforcement officers. According to Vasenin, the child in such a situation does not have time to evaluate the call as fraudulent, immediately believes the interlocutor and begins to follow the instructions.
The main trap is built not on complex technologies, but on trust and fear. The fraudster calls the teenager on behalf of the police, security agencies or other “important” department, puts authority and demands not to tell his parents. At such a moment, adults are the last protection nearby. Vasenine separately noted the role of parents, relatives, teachers and coaches, because the teenager under pressure can perceive the caller as the only person to obey.
Earlier, the Ministry of Internal Affairs described a longer scheme for the involvement of children. First, attackers get acquainted with a teenager on the Internet, draw personal data, photos, information about the family and habits. Then there may be people posing as representatives of foreign intelligence services, and try to persuade the child to “cooperation”. After that, other participants of the scheme, who are represented by employees of Russian law enforcement agencies, frightened with responsibility and force to follow the instructions.
In one of the options, the scheme begins almost harmlessly. The teenager is asked to send geolocation after communicating in a dating bot, ostensibly to understand where it is better to meet. Then a video with threats comes to the phone, and then a person calls, who appears as an employee of special services and accuses the child of helping criminals. After such a blow, a teenager can be forced to videoize parents’ banking applications, search at home for money and valuables, transferring property to a courier or perform other commands.
Such stories are no longer limited to conversations in messengers. The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported the detention of a 16-year-old resident of the Moscow region, who is suspected of a series of arson of transport infrastructure. According to preliminary police, unknown persons contacted the teenager through the messenger, introduced themselves as law enforcement officers and convinced them to perform criminal tasks. To buy flammable liquid, he was transferred 10 thousand rubles, after which the teenager at the coordinates set fire to railway relay cabinets. The police reported damage to 16 objects on the Paveletsky and Kursk directions of the Moscow railway.
Another case of the Ministry of Internal Affairs described in Yakutia. Fraudsters called a 15-year-old schoolgirl, introduced themselves as law enforcement officers and reported suspicious activity in the accounts of their parents. The girl believed, told about the money and jewelry in the safe, sent a photo of the vault, left the keys to the apartment under the stairs and went by taxi, thinking that she was involved in the operation to save family money. In the same chain was a schoolboy, who after communication in the messenger called the alleged investigator of the FSB, reported a hack of the “State Services” and accused of transfers to Ukraine. The frightened teenager, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, bought a “Bulgarica”, entered the apartment, opened the safe and handed over part of the curators stolen according to the instructions.
Vasenin said that the Moscow police this year set the task to prevent as many minors as possible from cooperation with scammers who pretend to be security officials. According to him, after a serious offense, the teenager can get a long term of imprisonment and actually fall out of a normal life.
Legal risk is not childish here. As a general rule, criminal liability in Russia comes from the age of 16, but for a number of crimes, including theft, robbery, robbery, terrorist act, sabotage, unusable vehicles or ways of communication, liability is possible from the age of 14. Therefore, the phrase “I was simply told to hand over the package,” “I only took the video” or “the coordinates gave me” does not turn the teenager into an innocent participant in someone else’s game automatically.
The Bank of Russia, according to the results of a survey on the security of financial services for 2025, also fixes the usual basis of such attacks: scammers most often use calls, SMS, instant messengers and social networks, and the victim is forced to act quickly, without verification and without talking with loved ones. Adults are more likely to lose money, but teenagers become a convenient target for a different role. Through a teenager you can get to the apartment, bank applications of parents, cash, bank cards, SIM cards or use the child as a courier.
The most reliable sign of deception sounds rude and simple: a real law enforcement officer does not ask a teenager to secretly remove the bank applications of parents, look for money at home, transfer valuables, go to coordinates, buy combustible liquids, burn objects or hide a conversation from the family. If an adult on the line requires secrecy and immediate action, the child is not an “operation”, but manipulation.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs urges children not to follow the instructions of the unknown, whoever they may be. For parents, the main alarm is the same simple: the teenager begins to hide correspondence, nervous because of calls, talks about “problems with the law”, asks not to go into the room, looking for documents, money, bank cards, keys or suddenly going somewhere. At this point, it is better to look boring an adult than to read a criminal case later. Humanity, of course, has strange ways to check parental attentiveness, but fraudsters are not at inattention.
The most dangerous call for a teenager may sound not as a threat, but as a request to help the country. A person on the line appears to be a police officer or security, says confidently, demands secrecy and turns a normal crime into a “special mission.” The child thinks that he helps adults and the state, but in fact performs the instructions of fraudsters.
In the GU of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in Moscow for such cases use the expression “pioneer syndrome”. The head of the press service of the capital’s head office Vladimir Vasenin said that teenagers who commit crimes under the influence of scammers often are motivated by a patriotic impulse and readiness to help law enforcement officers. According to Vasenin, the child in such a situation does not have time to evaluate the call as fraudulent, immediately believes the interlocutor and begins to follow the instructions.
The main trap is built not on complex technologies, but on trust and fear. The fraudster calls the teenager on behalf of the police, security agencies or other “important” department, puts authority and demands not to tell his parents. At such a moment, adults are the last protection nearby. Vasenine separately noted the role of parents, relatives, teachers and coaches, because the teenager under pressure can perceive the caller as the only person to obey.
Earlier, the Ministry of Internal Affairs described a longer scheme for the involvement of children. First, attackers get acquainted with a teenager on the Internet, draw personal data, photos, information about the family and habits. Then there may be people posing as representatives of foreign intelligence services, and try to persuade the child to “cooperation”. After that, other participants of the scheme, who are represented by employees of Russian law enforcement agencies, frightened with responsibility and force to follow the instructions.
In one of the options, the scheme begins almost harmlessly. The teenager is asked to send geolocation after communicating in a dating bot, ostensibly to understand where it is better to meet. Then a video with threats comes to the phone, and then a person calls, who appears as an employee of special services and accuses the child of helping criminals. After such a blow, a teenager can be forced to videoize parents’ banking applications, search at home for money and valuables, transferring property to a courier or perform other commands.
Such stories are no longer limited to conversations in messengers. The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported the detention of a 16-year-old resident of the Moscow region, who is suspected of a series of arson of transport infrastructure. According to preliminary police, unknown persons contacted the teenager through the messenger, introduced themselves as law enforcement officers and convinced them to perform criminal tasks. To buy flammable liquid, he was transferred 10 thousand rubles, after which the teenager at the coordinates set fire to railway relay cabinets. The police reported damage to 16 objects on the Paveletsky and Kursk directions of the Moscow railway.
Another case of the Ministry of Internal Affairs described in Yakutia. Fraudsters called a 15-year-old schoolgirl, introduced themselves as law enforcement officers and reported suspicious activity in the accounts of their parents. The girl believed, told about the money and jewelry in the safe, sent a photo of the vault, left the keys to the apartment under the stairs and went by taxi, thinking that she was involved in the operation to save family money. In the same chain was a schoolboy, who after communication in the messenger called the alleged investigator of the FSB, reported a hack of the “State Services” and accused of transfers to Ukraine. The frightened teenager, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, bought a “Bulgarica”, entered the apartment, opened the safe and handed over part of the curators stolen according to the instructions.
Vasenin said that the Moscow police this year set the task to prevent as many minors as possible from cooperation with scammers who pretend to be security officials. According to him, after a serious offense, the teenager can get a long term of imprisonment and actually fall out of a normal life.
Legal risk is not childish here. As a general rule, criminal liability in Russia comes from the age of 16, but for a number of crimes, including theft, robbery, robbery, terrorist act, sabotage, unusable vehicles or ways of communication, liability is possible from the age of 14. Therefore, the phrase “I was simply told to hand over the package,” “I only took the video” or “the coordinates gave me” does not turn the teenager into an innocent participant in someone else’s game automatically.
The Bank of Russia, according to the results of a survey on the security of financial services for 2025, also fixes the usual basis of such attacks: scammers most often use calls, SMS, instant messengers and social networks, and the victim is forced to act quickly, without verification and without talking with loved ones. Adults are more likely to lose money, but teenagers become a convenient target for a different role. Through a teenager you can get to the apartment, bank applications of parents, cash, bank cards, SIM cards or use the child as a courier.
The most reliable sign of deception sounds rude and simple: a real law enforcement officer does not ask a teenager to secretly remove the bank applications of parents, look for money at home, transfer valuables, go to coordinates, buy combustible liquids, burn objects or hide a conversation from the family. If an adult on the line requires secrecy and immediate action, the child is not an “operation”, but manipulation.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs urges children not to follow the instructions of the unknown, whoever they may be. For parents, the main alarm is the same simple: the teenager begins to hide correspondence, nervous because of calls, talks about “problems with the law”, asks not to go into the room, looking for documents, money, bank cards, keys or suddenly going somewhere. At this point, it is better to look boring an adult than to read a criminal case later. Humanity, of course, has strange ways to check parental attentiveness, but fraudsters are not at inattention.
