Russians who become fixated on their phones and lash out when questioned may be under the influence of scammers, according to criminal defence lawyer Albert Khaleyan, a partner at the Moscow Bar Association Vector Prime. His comments were reported by Gazeta.ru.
Khaleyan said scam victims are not limited to any one group. Pensioners and teenagers can fall for fraudsters' schemes, he said, but so can otherwise stable, successful adults.
He explained that scammers deliberately create a stressful situation that temporarily shuts down critical thinking. The brain's prefrontal cortex becomes overloaded, and the victim begins to comply with instructions, he said. According to Khaleyan, the resulting surge of adrenaline and cortisol can affect a person's behaviour for up to three days.
Signs a relative may be under a scammer's control
Khaleyan said a person under a scammer's influence may refuse to put their phone down, grabbing it the moment a notification arrives, placing it face down on tables, or leaving the room to take calls in private.
Any attempt by family members to ask what is going on is likely to trigger a scandal or aggression, he said. He described victims falling back on what he called "zombie phrases", such as being told they cannot say, that it is not anyone else's business and they will handle it themselves, or that they cannot explain right now but will explain later.
Khaleyan added that victims can also appear depressed and on edge, struggling to concentrate on everyday tasks, with disrupted sleep and appetite. In other cases, he said, the opposite happens, and the person becomes unusually active and restless.
How to help someone caught in a scam
To help a relative, Khaleyan suggested offering to check the information together and calling the person's contacts using a number taken from an official website rather than one given by the suspected caller. If the victim cannot be persuaded, he said, the matter should be reported to the police.
Khaleyan said the goal should be to become a safe presence for the person so that they feel able to confide in a relative rather than the scammer.
Scammers also targeting homeowners over gas supply
The warning follows separate reports that scammers have begun threatening Russian homeowners with having their gas supply cut off. According to those reports, fraudsters tell homeowners that a routine inspection of gas networks was carried out in August and that critical leaks or violations were found in their building requiring urgent repair.
The callers then pressure homeowners into paying for replacement valves, meters or chimneys at prices inflated five to ten times over the market rate, or take an upfront payment for "urgent repairs" and then stop responding, according to the reports.
