Scammers are increasingly using not only deception against teenagers, but also their desire to do the "right thing." A child may receive a call and be told that they must complete a special assignment from security agencies or the police. The Ministry of Internal Affairs calls this the "pioneer syndrome": a teenager wants to help the state and law enforcement agencies, but does not have time to realize that they are dealing with a scammer. This was stated by Vladimir Vasenin, head of the press service of the Moscow Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.
According to him, when the police start working with a teenager who has already committed a crime, it often turns out that this is a child from a normal, complete family. They are well-mannered, sufficiently patriotic, and in a normal situation, ready to help.
But this is exactly what remote scammers take advantage of. They introduce themselves as people associated with security agencies or the police and tell the teenager that they are required to complete a special assignment.
At such a moment, according to Vasenin, a child's reflex kicks in: they are ready to help the state and law enforcement agencies because they were raised that way. At the same time, critical thinking does not engage, and the teenager does not evaluate the call as fraudulent. They immediately believe and begin to follow the instructions of the criminals.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs emphasizes that the attention of parents, close relatives, and other authoritative adults – teachers, educators, coaches – is especially important here.
Vasenin noted that this year, the Moscow police set the task of warning as many minors as possible about this particular scheme.
He explained that the consequences can be extremely severe. If a minor commits a serious crime, they can receive a long prison sentence and effectively be lost to society: not have time to go through the stage of upbringing, finish an educational institution, and end up in prison at a young age.
The representative of the Moscow police headquarters emphasized that this is a very dangerous story, and it is important for everyone to understand this.