Scammers have started using a new scheme to deceive Russians, posing as employees of energy sales companies. They convince victims that it is necessary to sign up for meter verification, and then extort money from them, using the fear of hacking into their "Gosuslugi" account.
After the victim agrees, they are asked to dictate the code from the SMS to confirm the registration. Then, the victim receives an email about suspicious transactions on "Gosuslugi", and the victim, calling back, finds themselves trapped.
The criminals claim that a power of attorney for financial transactions is being issued in the victim's name. Then they switch the victim to an alleged FSB employee who demands that money be transferred to a safe account under the threat of criminal liability. Panicked people transfer their savings or hand them over to a courier who is associated with the criminals.