In Free care: how scammers use a dangerous game for children
In parental chats and social networks in the spring of 2025, the allegedly increasingly popular dangerous test game "Disappear for a day" is being discussed. Some commentators have already compared it to involving children in communities like the Blue Whale. Representatives of Roskomnadzor and search team volunteers called for a calmer attitude towards such messages — they do not note an increase in the number of destructive messages on social networks or statements about missing children. But a number of experts still point out the danger of this game — in particular, fraudsters can use it to create a situation of imaginary abduction and extort a "ransom" from parents. Other potential risks of spreading the game and ways to protect children from it are described in the Izvestia article.
Real game cases
In the spring of 2025, reports about the dangerous teenage game "Disappear for a day" are increasingly appearing in parent chats and the media. It boils down to the fact that the child leaves the house without notifying the parents, and does not get in touch during the day. Only his friends can know his location. After that, the child returns home and announces on social networks and messengers that he has "won." Allegedly, some curators promise prizes for participating in such a challenge — video games or accessories for gadgets.
One of the last high-profile cases occurred in March of this year: two brothers aged 11 and 13 disappeared in Severodvinsk. The whole town was looking for the boys, and they returned home the next day. The INFOnoVel Telegram channel soon reported that the children participated in the "Disappear for a day" game.
However, the game itself is not new. The first mention of her in the media can be found in messages from 2017. Then a 12-year-old boy disappeared in the Rostov region. Everyone was looking for the child: parents, schoolchildren, law enforcement officers and volunteers. A day later, he turned up safe and sound.
After this incident, the game was not mentioned for almost a year, until in January 2018, a 12-year-old boy disappeared in Moscow again. The parents printed out the orientation points, volunteers and the police combed the area, and the child was hiding in the entrance of the house in the neighboring area all this time.
In 2022, history repeated itself in the Irkutsk region, where a 13-year-old boy left home. After this incident, the commission on juvenile affairs of the regional administration stated that a new "dangerous game" was gaining popularity among children.
In November 2023, history repeated itself in Voronezh with a 14-year-old teenager.
What do the missing persons volunteers say?
The press service of Roskomnadzor, in response to a request from Izvestia, reported that the agency had not received any complaints about the game.
"The agency has conducted monitoring on this information channel: no destructive appeals have been identified. Most publications on this topic are informational or educational in nature, warning children and parents against participating in such "games," the RCN concluded.
Roskomnadzor also reported that since the beginning of 2025, they have stopped the distribution of 13.8 thousand materials involving minors in illegal actions and 11 thousand materials with suicidal content.
In 2024, the agency suppressed the distribution of 67.2 thousand such materials. Of these, 33.2 thousand involve minors in illegal actions and 34 thousand carry suicidal content.
The current wave of interest in messengers for this game arose after a post in one of the major Telergam channels with an audience of more than 600 thousand people. It stated: "the game is a kind of relay race: after completing one round, a new participant enters it." However, the channel administrators did not provide any details. Moreover, according to Izvestia, Roskomnadzor contacted the authors of the mentioned message, but they did not respond to the request.
The Izvestia correspondent found many groups in popular instant messengers with calls to play hide-and-seek, but none of them called for disappearing for 24 hours. Some stories about the destructive challenge lead to the Russian stealth game Schoolboy Runaway, which was released in 2024 and allegedly teaches children to run away from home. After passing through certain stages, children receive links to Telegram channels and QR codes, where everything is already moving into a more serious direction, warns the Bulletin of the Russian Cyber Police. The Izvestia correspondent decided to personally go through this game, but did not receive any links to Telegram channels or QR codes.
Nevertheless, the list of harmful "entertainment" for children is constantly being updated through closed Telegram chats, the Department for Combating the Illegal Use of Information and Communication Technologies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia assured Izvestia.
Vyacheslav Deminov, a former criminal investigation officer and now a private detective, told Izvestia that every day "many groups [for teenagers] are created in which [dangerous] tasks are set, and immediately the groups are destroyed," so they cannot be tracked, and the actions of the attackers are aimed at blunting attention.
At the same time, the press service of the LizaAlert search movement called reports of numerous disappearances of children allegedly playing "Disappear for a day" a rumor. According to the search engines, in 2024 they received 10.8 thousand applications for the disappearance of children under the age of 17. Of these, the vast majority were found alive, less than 1% were found dead, and less than 1% have not been found to this day. As of April 30, 2025, 3,350 missing child reports have been filed. That is, there is no growth.
In turn, Sergey Nosov, an instructor in civil defense and emergency situations, stated in his Telegram channel that the game not only exists, but has reached a new level.
"Parents should be more attentive to the online communities in which their children belong, and also warn children about the dangers of such games," Nosov wrote.
The expert also noted that during the game, a child may enter a disadvantaged area, where he may be robbed or beaten, and in winter such challenges can lead to frostbite.
Who can use the "Disappear for a day" game
Psychologist Sergey Korolkov is confident that such games are beneficial to many "marginal elements of society."
"Firstly, these are various pedophiles and perverts. Secondly, there are antisocial elements, whether they are criminals, who can either involve children in criminal activities in this way, or force a child to commit a couple of offenses, and then blackmail the child," the expert argues.
Vyacheslav Deminov is sure that the game can be the first step of recruitment, through which children are tested for suggestibility.
— When I was developing a sect, I found a center abroad, where there is a special department that closely monitors the effect of such "games", and also develops new methods of youth management, — Deminov recalled.
According to him, the main task of such "games" is to reach as many people as possible.
— If a child succumbs to a provocation, then he moves on to the next stage. Of course, not every participant is contacted. But that's not what's important — the mass that fulfills these conditions has already been created. And as a result, we have a large number of people who are potentially under recruitment," Deminov is sure.
The expert noted that the hype around the game is also used by scammers who reach out to minors on social networks, offer to play, and as security measures ask for family and friends to contact them.
— In fact, we all understand how it ends. The child runs away, and the scammers call the parents and say, "We have your child," and demand a ransom," the expert explained.
After that, the scammers use the information they receive from the children about the parents' place of work and immediately adjust their actions in order to get the maximum ransom for the alleged abduction.
How to protect children from dangerous games
Children can engage in various dangerous social games for several reasons. Firstly, because gaming is a leading activity at this age. And interesting new "games" are always exciting, says psychologist Sergey Korolkov.
According to him, another incentive is the social environment. If one or more children in the company tell you about the new game, others may be interested. The third reason is material interest. When children are promised a chance to win a console or other gadgets that parents do not want or are in no hurry to buy, this is a powerful incentive.
— At this age, children have almost no critical thinking. It simply won't occur to them that everything that unknown uncles write and promise is a hoax. Children are very trusting," the psychologist noted.
The expert noted that there is no magic pill to protect a child from destructive games.
— Bans won't help. First of all, prevention is regular conversations with the child about his safety: they can deceive on the Internet, not everyone you communicate with, friends, that they will always support and help him at home, and that parents may worry if he disappears," the psychologist concluded.
If you cannot reach your child and suspect that he is missing, do not wait and start searching, experts advise. It is necessary to check the places where he usually walks, call his friends. If this does not bring results, you should contact the police with a missing person's report, the LizaAlert hotline, and involve as many people as possible in the search, especially those who know the missing person by sight: relatives, acquaintances, friends, colleagues, and neighbors.
It should be remembered: there is no rule according to which, allegedly, it is worth waiting three days before filing a report on the disappearance of a child. As there is no punishment for a "false" statement — in other words, no one will fine you if the missing child is found in a day.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
