Moscow, August 13 — Elena Antonyan, Head of the Department of Criminology and Penal Enforcement Law at Kutafin Moscow State Law University, has detailed critical steps for Russians who encounter fraudsters while seeking employment abroad.
According to Antonyan, individuals should immediately preserve all evidence of deception, including correspondence, job advertisements, contracts, receipts, bank details, phone numbers, email addresses, photographs of documents, and voice messages. She emphasized that if a person realizes they have been deceived, they must stop any further financial transfers and secure the evidence.
If fraudulent transactions have already occurred, victims should contact law enforcement agencies and their banks as soon as possible to report the incident. For those who discover deception after traveling abroad, Antonyan advised also reaching out to the Russian consulate.
The lawyer noted that situations where documents are taken away, freedom of movement is restricted, individuals are forced to perform work beyond initial agreements, or threatened with repayment of non-existent debts may indicate more serious crimes, such as human exploitation and trafficking.
This guidance follows a report by the Department for Combating Illegal Use of Information and Communication Technologies within the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs on June 16, which stated that scammers are increasingly using fake job offers abroad to extort money from Russians. The fraud scheme typically involves months of “registration” before demanding payment.
