In Moscow on October 22, Russia’s Deputy Head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Oleg Telniakov, said that blocking voice calls on foreign messenger services has reduced scam calls by about 40 percent within a month. 

Speaking at the 24th Spectrum Forum, Telniakov noted that fraudsters increasingly turn to internet-based services after cybercrime controls on traditional networks push them to foreign voice platforms. Since 2024, he said, scam activity leveraging WhatsApp and Telegram voice services has grown exponentially. He added that after restricting access to foreign messenger voice services in the first month, scam calls declined by 40%. 

Telniakov stressed the need to curb the risk of widespread abuse of a national messenger, Max, and highlighted ongoing coordination among agencies, telecoms, and national instant messaging providers to build a domestic channel to receive information, identify malicious accounts, and act quickly. He warned that criminal networks coordinate with unfriendly states and their intelligence services, requiring proactive measures.

source: Moskva News Agency

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