The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Justice of Tatarstan are warning about a new fraudulent scheme in chats of families of SMO participants

13 May 2026, Wednesday

Criminals have adapted the «chat relocation» scheme to steal the personal data of military personnel's relatives. The attack mechanism is as follows: in closed communities where families are searching for missing or unresponsive protectors, posts appear requesting an urgent «relocation» of the group. Technical glitches are cited as the reason.

The link disguises itself as an invitation to a new chat, but leads to a phishing bot, where the victim is asked to «confirm participation» by providing a phone number and SMS code. After providing this information, the account is taken over by the attackers.

Be vigilant and do not disclose confidential information to strangers over the phone!