Recently, cases of fraud involving non-existent children have become more frequent in Russia. Criminals find loopholes in the legislation and steal state funds. One of the reasons is the lack of a clear system for tracking the fate of a child after birth.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 708 cases of registration of children born outside medical institutions in the registry offices were discovered. In 59 regions of Russia, 631 women received social benefits or maternity capital.
However, in some cases, it turns out that the child never existed. Entire families in Russia are engaged in receiving benefits for non-existent children. In these cases, 229 criminal cases were initiated in 52 regions, and 217 people were brought to justice.
Legal Solution
The Criminal Code provides for liability for fraud in obtaining state benefits, said Alla Georgieva, a lawyer in civil cases.
If a woman comes to the registry office with witnesses (and they can be any persons) in order to obtain a birth certificate for a non-existent child, then both she and the witnesses are liable as accomplices.
In addition to regular payments, there are mechanisms related to maternity capital. They are often used to conduct real estate transactions between relatives. However, such transactions can be challenged in court. In this case, the registration entry may be canceled.
Before going to court with a claim for the recovery of illegally obtained funds, the state body may send the violator a demand to return the entire amount within a specified period. If the demand is not met, the recovery will be carried out in court, and the enforcement will be carried out through the bailiff service.
Internet Nuances: How Non-Existent People Are Created
A child born in a maternity hospital receives a medical birth certificate, which is sent to their personal account on the Gosuslugi portal.
If the parents' marriage is not officially registered, a problem arises when the mother submits an application through "Gosuslugi". The system assigns the mother's last name to the child's father, said www1.ru a young mother, Yulia, who recently registered her daughter.
For example, if the mother is Ivanova, then the child will also be Ivanov, and the father will automatically be assigned the last name Ivanov. This error can only be corrected by personally visiting the registry office.
It turns out that when applying through "Gosuslugi", the father is a non-existent person.
Child's Play
Fraudsters also do not hesitate to profit from child benefits by hacking into Russians' accounts on "Gosuslugi". Hacking attacks were especially widespread in 2020, when Russian President Vladimir Putin promised a one-time payment for each child from three to 16 years old.
After it was announced that it could be оформлена on the "Gosuslugi" website, the portal could not cope with the load not only because of the large number of users, but also because of hacker attacks. Hackers deliberately complicate the work of the state website by creating its mirror copies.
The scam was simple. When people could not apply on the "Gosuslugi" portal, they went to fake websites with similar names (for example, gosuslugi-16, vyplaty, covid-vyplaty, posobie). There they registered their personal data, including bank card and account details, to which they hoped to receive 10 thousand rubles per child.
Experts recommended that users regularly check the pages of websites for their authenticity through the reg.ru service. On this resource, you can find out who the site is registered to and how long it has been created.
Fraudsters still regularly try to hack "Gosuslugi". Through a Russian's account on the portal, they can take out a loan or microloan, issue an electronic SIM card in the victim's name and use it for other fraudulent schemes, sell personal information, receive a tax deduction for a person, or cash out a family.
Knowing information about you, they can pretend to be you or a bank employee to extort money from you or your relatives.
Earlier, Russians were warned that during the New Year holidays, the activity of Internet fraudsters, who seek to take advantage of the holiday bustle to steal users' personal data, increases significantly. One of the most common schemes is false payment notifications. Fraudsters offer to install an "official application" under the pretext of receiving New Year bonuses, which can lead to the loss of personal data.
Read more on the topic:
The Ministry of Internal Affairs told about the largest amount stolen from Russians in 2024
Fraudsters encroached on the payments of beneficiaries: Russians were warned about New Year's scams
Russians transferred 168 billion rubles to fraudsters in 2024
