Russian criminals turn to crypto investment as bait to entice victims
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Crypto investment offers are among the most common tricks employed by Russian scammers this year, the interior ministry in Moscow revealed. More traditional methods to entice victims, such as suggestions to send rubles to a “safe account,” remain on the menu and are even ranking higher. Russia’s MVD lists country’s most frequent fraud schemes Proposals to invest in crypto assets have been one of the most popular tools for fraudsters since the beginning of 2025, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) unveiled. The list of widely used traps also includes money transfers to accounts pitched to potential victims as “safe,” regular phishing attempts, and requests for prepayment for ordered items, the department detailed. In a statement for the RIA Novosti news agency, the ministry’s press service elaborated: “One common fraudulent scheme is the use of funds from citizens, supposedly for obtaining additional income, by investing in cryptocurrency, for example.” A crypto scheme usually involves attracting unsuspecting investors to fake websites. Posing as brokers, the scammers offer customers their account management services. They feed false profit information to the clients to tempt them to deposit more. Once the funds eventually stop flowing, the operators of these sites freeze the accounts and drain the balances. Crypto investments are yet to be comprehensively regulated in Russia, and this is likely to happen next year, according to the latest statements on the matter by officials in Moscow. Currently, they are only legal for a very limited group of professional, or “highly qualified” investors. To fall in that category, private individuals need to meet certain income and asset minimums that are beyond reach for most Russians. “We would very much like to see legislation covering all aspects of investing in cryptocurrencies adopted in 2026,” Bank of Russia’s Deputy Governor Vladimir Chistyukhin said at a…
Filed under: News - @ November 22, 2025 11:26 am