Cash in on mobilization. How the Network offers to urgently "evacuate" from the country

The range of services - from the issuance of visas, residence permits and citizenship of foreign countries to the provision of deferrals and "armor" from conscription and illegal crossing of the border.

Anna Snezhina

Actually, the outbreak of corruption on the topic of the mobilized was clearly predicted by the recent events in Upper Lars. In front of a live queue of tens of thousands of people, motorcades of actors resembling Ossetian law enforcement officers were driving especially hurrying citizens to the checkpoint in the opposite direction. The price tag for the VIP service was announced right here, in the queue, quite openly - by oral and gestural-visual designations.

Visas and citizenship

The current Internet solvers often do not hide the fact that documents - for example, Schengen or a foreign passport will only be a high-quality fake, and not an original obtained for a bribe. And this is at best.

Most mobilization-related services are fraudulent, cybersecurity experts warn. The goal of scammers is not even to give customers the desired fake, but simply to steal money or personal data under the pretext of providing services and hide.

Despite the obvious risks, the demand for the mobilization line is still high, and the prices for the goods are by no means democratic. The cheapest service - Eurovisa, at the current price, costs $ 500-800 for interested parties, with a promised production time of 3-5 days. At the same time, the authors of the ads acknowledge that the sticker itself in the passport will only be a drawing that is not included in the visa information system (VIS) of the Schengen countries. In fact, a trick with such a linden can only work at passport control in Russia, in the Schengen zone, when compared with the VIS base, border guards immediately recognize a fake, and it will not help to cross the border in any way.

“EU citizenship” for Russians is estimated on the black market in the amount of 100 thousand rubles. At the same time, the legal acquisition of status today costs citizens € 5,000-6,000 (300-360 thousand rubles at the exchange rate of 10.10.2022), not to mention the time costs - many years of going through these procedures. It is quite obvious that for 100 thousand rubles you should not count on the original passport.

Assistance in registration

Another type of service is assistance in paperwork. In normal times, it is quite a standard and legal market that has existed for a long time, performing essentially the same functions as the official visa centers. However, now scammers will hide behind such announcements, the purpose of which is also to take money from the needy and, without fulfilling the promise, disappear. Information, addresses and contract data of visa centers are always indicated on the websites of foreign embassies. Over the past three years, since the beginning of the epidemic, more than 500 sites have been discovered - twins of visa centers, digital threat experts warn.

A sure sign of a scam is the promise that documents will be ready in a matter of days, especially in the absence of the applicant, without a live interview. Even for an “increased fee”, a decision of this level without an applicant is made, at least with the participation of the vice-ambassador, and for an amount of several tens of thousands of rubles, an official is unlikely to risk his own skin.

Cross the uncrossable

Another proposal that has appeared is “assistance in crossing the border”. First of all, we are talking about land borders with neighboring states - Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, etc.

Those who offer the service exploit the theme of long queues, refusals to leave Russia, the risks of receiving a summons right at the border from a mobile military registration and enlistment office.

Booking Guarantee

The number of services that help to avoid being drafted into the army has increased significantly. The range of products sold is varied and extensive: reservations from the employer, diplomas of higher education, medical certificates (for example, about HIV infection), assistance in passing a commission in the military registration and enlistment office, and even self-mutilation services.

Vacancies also appeared on job search services, the main advantage of which is a delay in mobilization calls. Such ads are not necessarily fraudulent, however, it is definitely necessary to make inquiries about the employer. The military registration and enlistment offices operate under the Decree of the President, their main legal document, and at the moment only employees of the military-industrial complex and certain categories of students in programs with state accreditation are guaranteed a delay. Everything else, as they say, is metaphor. The employer who offers a deferment as a "bun" can really give it? Lawyers advise the following algorithm for checking job offers: call the number in the ad and carefully clarify all the working conditions and type of activity of the organization, if the employee is asked to pay for the employment, then this is 100% fraud.

More than 20 times increased the number of proposals for the sale of diplomas, experts say. Most of these vacancies are deleted after moderation on sites with ads and instant messengers, however, they can still be found on the Internet. Prices for a document on higher education vary from 20 to 300 thousand rubles.

Lawyers and human rights activists again warn: false documents are easily refuted by submitting an official request at the place of alleged issuance of such.

And buyers of such services can be charged under Art. 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Forgery, production or circulation of forged documents”) and sent to prison for up to three years.

Higher education diplomas are based on strict reporting forms, but even having obtained them, from now on it is impossible to simply “enroll” a person as a graduate of some university. Since the 2000s, the purchase of diplomas has been extended in time for several years, and the fake-crust scheme is based on the fact that a student is virtually enrolled, studies, passes all sessions for all years of study and final qualifying exams, and only then receives a diploma.

Withdrawal by SMS

Calls and text messages from the “bank security service” have been opportunistically transformed - now the “benefactors” are massively offering to “settle the issue with the military registration and enlistment office”.

If the victim bites, a price is charged for the services. It is clear that most often the performers simply disappear with the money received, and those who paid for such services to the police, as a rule, will not go: the service is illegal.

Cellular operators have already acknowledged the problem and are either blocking potential fraudulent calls or collecting critical data for this measure.

According to cybersecurity experts, the demand for databases with personal data of men of military age and their families has increased on the dark web. First of all, they work out on leaks from banks - on applicants for loans and mortgage lenders. The number of announcements about guarantees of non-receipt of subpoenas will grow, experts say.

Cases have already been recorded when the scammers themselves, on behalf of representatives of the military registration and enlistment offices, call and notify the interlocutor of the direction of the agenda, threaten punishment for failure to appear, after which, in the same conversation or in another phone call, someone offers an option: to resolve the issue with a delay for money. Relatives, wives, mothers and children of potential conscripts may be called and scared that their loved one is already at the collection point and offer to pay a certain amount for getting rid of misfortune. By the way, they call not only from “military enlistment offices”, but from “police departments”, “municipal administrations” , etc.

In the meantime, stories of victims about how they were deceived are already appearing on the forums. One of the abandoned ones, Alexander K., for example, said that he transferred about 100 thousand rubles to the performers for obtaining a passport of a foreign state, after which he was sent a product that only remotely resembles what was ordered. The different colors of the crust and paper, instead of color photographs - black and white, etc., in general, even the most inexperienced layman will immediately distinguish a fake from the original. The performers did not respond to the claims, and after that they completely disappeared from communication.

"Benefactors", of course, do not warn clients that documents made in such a handicraft way will at best turn out to be a useless piece of paper, and huge amounts of money will be thrown to the wind. At worst, detention for the use and circulation of forged documents, a trial and transfer to the zone will follow.

In Russia, the acquisition, storage and use of knowingly forged documents that grant rights or exempt from obligations, in accordance with Art. 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation are punishable by deprivation (restriction) of freedom, forced labor for a period depending on the severity of the deed.

A criminal record, by the way, threatens not only the organizers and sellers of false certificates, but also the purchasers. It does not matter whether the person used the rights that the forged document gave him or did not have time to do this. It is enough for law enforcement officers to record the fact of buying a false document or presenting it.

In the EU countries and other countries where a false document will be used, liability for such incidents is also provided. In light variations, this is a huge fine, deportation to their homeland and a lifelong restriction on entry, in the worst case, criminal liability and a prison term, as in Russia.

NI advises its readers not to use black market services.