Craving for beauty: phone scammers began to attack Russians more often

In 2025, phone scammers began to attack women more often — the share of such calls, according to analysts, increased from 43% to 48.5%. Attackers take advantage of the fact that modern women, on the one hand, are often financially independent and manage their own incomes themselves, and on the other hand, they are more empathetic, and therefore more often believe in "legends" to deceive. Read about why scammers have become more likely to attack Russians, how malicious schemes aimed at the fair sex work, and how to protect yourself from such threats in the Izvestia article.

What is known about the increase in fraudulent attacks on women

MTS analysts reported that phone scammers began to attack women more often in 2025.

"This year, there has been a change in the portrait of potential victims of phone fraud," the experts said. — If earlier the main targets of intruders were men, now the attacks are almost equally distributed between the sexes: the share of calls to women has increased from 43.15% in 2024 to 48.45% this year.

At the same time, the age profile of potential victims of intruders has also changed over the past year. So, in 2024, the most vulnerable group were people aged 35-44, and in 2025, the focus of scammers shifted to the 45-54 age group. According to analysts, pensioners are still the second largest risk group, accounting for 18% of attacks.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Anna Selina

Fraudsters have two main reasons to attack Russians more often, says Alexandra Shmigirilova, GR director of the Security Code information security company, in an interview with Izvestia. On the one hand, women are usually more empathetic, so they are more likely to believe in the stories offered by scammers. A wider range of "legends" related to children, relationships, as well as medical and beauty services are used against them.

— In addition, modern women are often financially independent and manage their own income, — the expert notes. — This makes them no less attractive targets for intruders than men in terms of potential financial gain.

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What distinguishes fraudulent attacks on women?

Women traditionally perform more social functions: they take care of the family, make decisions related to children, parents and household, Natalia Konstantinova, psychologist of the corporate well-being platform I Understand, says in an interview with Izvestia.

— Intruders use this: they play on anxiety for loved ones ("your son is in trouble", "mom is in the hospital"), on the fear of losing savings or being a "bad mother/ daughter", — the expert explains. — In addition, research shows that women are on average more likely than men to answer calls from unknown numbers. It's the result of a built—in habit of always being in touch.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Korotaev

While men are more often involved in their schemes through "financial" stories ("account blocking", "investments"), they influence women through emotions: empathy, guilt and caring, Natalia Konstantinova notes. For example, it may be a call asking for help for a child in trouble, or a message about an urgent payment for the delivery of a gift. All this is designed for an instant emotional reaction. In her practice, Izvestia's interlocutor has encountered such schemes:

• The woman allegedly received a call from the school, informing her about an accident with a child. She was offered to transfer money for treatment in the first minutes of shock.
• The pensioner was informed that her grandson had been detained by the police. Out of fear and a sense of responsibility, she transferred a large sum of money.
• A young girl was sent a message on behalf of the courier service: "Your gift from a loved one is stuck at customs, pay the duty." There was pressure on romantic expectations.

In turn, Dmitry Shvetsov, head of Kaspersky Who Calls infrastructure, notes that in 2025, the company's specialists recorded a surge in complaints about potential fraudsters on the eve of March 8 and September 1.

Photo: Global Look Press/Sebastian Gollnow

The attackers pretended to be a courier service or called ostensibly on behalf of flower delivery services and asked potential victims to name the SMS code — according to the "legend" it was needed to receive a parcel with flowers. However, in fact, in this way, fraudsters tried to lure data from logging into important services in order to later implement the second stage of the scheme and try to extort money from a person.

Who becomes the targets of the "female" fraud schemes

A separate category of schemes for deceiving women on the Web is associated with the so-called online gigolos, says Yakov Filevsky, an expert on sociotechnical testing at Angara Security, in an interview with Izvestia. They fall in love with girls and even mature women by correspondence, and then they begin their dark deeds.

— Such as "love on the other end of the line" all the time, under various pretexts, borrows money without refund or involves the victim allegedly in trading on the stock exchange, — says the specialist. — In fact, the funds simply end up in the accounts of scammers and disappear into the stream of dropper operations.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Lantyukhov

Scammers often target single women with financial savings who work hard and can make large expenditures, adds Alexandra Shmigirilova. At the same time, single mothers who lack funds are also vulnerable — their desire to save money makes them easy prey. In turn, Natalia Konstantinova identifies the following categories of potential victims::

• mothers and grandmothers who are easily afraid for their children and grandchildren;
• women experiencing loneliness and seeking attention — schemes on the topic of online dating and gifts are used against them.;
• older women, less confident in the digital environment.

At the same time, women surrounded by a large family or an active social circle become victims much less often. The reason is that they usually consult with their loved ones, who are able to recognize the deception in time and stop them.

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How to protect yourself from fraud schemes against women

The main ways to protect against fraudsters are universal and do not depend on a person's gender or age, Alexandra Shmigirilova says in an interview with Izvestia. The main principle is to remain reasonably vigilant and not to trust the information received without careful verification. It is extremely important to understand that any requests to transfer money, send confidential codes, or install unknown software on devices are obvious signs of deception.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Korotaev

— Always take a break: even 2-3 minutes is enough for the emotions to subside, — advises Natalia Konstantinova. — Double-check the information by calling the child, relatives, or the organization that provided you with the disturbing news.

In addition, as the expert notes, it is important to discuss fraud scenarios with your loved ones and discuss in advance what to do in case of such calls. It's also always worth remembering: the more they try to scare or hurry you, the more likely you are to be deceived. Finally, it will be useful to use solutions that will notify you if the number has received calls with suspected fraud, adds Dmitry Shvetsov.

— Women are indeed becoming a more frequent target of scammers, and this is understandable: where there is care, responsibility and emotional involvement, there is also room for manipulation. But knowing typical scenarios and being ready to stop for a second becomes the most reliable protection," concludes Natalia Konstantinova.