Chatbot, "SIM cards" and a virtual station: how a resident of Rostov Oblast helped fraudsters

In Rostov Oblast, police stopped the activities of a 37-year-old resident of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky District, who is suspected of transferring subscriber numbers to telephone fraudsters. According to the Department for Combating Cybercrime of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the region, from November 2025 to April 2026, the woman registered about 426 SIM cards.

As investigators established, the suspect found a part-time job online and acted through a special chatbot in a messenger. She bought SIM cards, registered them to third parties, and then transferred unique serial numbers to her handlers. These data, according to the investigation, could be used for fraudulent calls and other criminal schemes.

In addition, following the instructions of her handlers, the woman purchased two smartphones and installed special applications on them. This created a virtual telephone station: through one device, the attackers could call victims via a popular social network, and through the second, they could remotely control a cloud service. The suspect's monthly income, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, ranged from 50 to 70 thousand rubles.

During a search at her place of residence, police, with the support of Rosgvardiya, seized smartphones, several hundred SIM cards from various operators, and bank cards. The check showed that the seized equipment had already been used in defrauding four Russian residents.

A criminal case has been initiated against the woman under Part 2 of Article 274.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. For the duration of the investigation, she was placed under a recognizance not to leave and proper conduct. Police continue to identify other participants in the scheme and are checking the detainee's possible involvement in other episodes.