In April 2023, a surge of new potentially dangerous domains appeared in Runet, alongside fake Telegram channels and bots purporting to create an online military registration of soldiers. This finding was shared with socialbites.ca by Anastasia Klimova, an analyst with RTK-Solar’s digital risk research unit. [Source: RTK-Solar report, socialbites.ca]
RTK-Solar investigators identified 23 distinct digital locations connected to the issue. At present, only four of these domains are active, redirecting users to functioning sites. Each active domain markets services claiming to exempt individuals from military service. The remaining domains lie dormant for now, yet experts warn that at any moment fraudulent sites could awaken on some of them, a scenario already observed in practice. [Source: RTK-Solar investigations]
“In April, we encountered a source that proved to be clearly fraudulent. The site advertised a charge of 99 rubles while claiming to help users verify whether they had received a summons, yet it simultaneously enrolled them in online fitness courses with ongoing monthly payments,” Klimova explained. [Source: RTK-Solar expert]
Additionally, Klimova noted that alongside the message about forming an online conscript registry, fraudulent activity surfaced in Telegram as well. He provided examples of links to fifteen different channels and bots. [Source: RTK-Solar observations]
“The most common tactic involves bots that falsely claim they can check whether a person appears in the registry or any related database. Typically, these bots request a full name, phone number, date of birth, and military service details to perform a check,” Klimova added. [Source: RTK-Solar analysis]
Channels offering services to delete a person’s data from the registry are another frequent scheme. Klimova reported that scammers charge between 2,000 rubles and up to 50,000 rubles for such deletions. [Source: RTK-Solar risk brief]
In parallel, President Vladimir Putin announced in April 2023 that the Defense Ministry would establish an online record for those liable for military service, though access to this system was not yet available at that time. Official forecasts from the ministry suggested a fall 2023 rollout, with access to be provided legally and free of charge via the Gosuslugi portal. [Source: government briefing, RTK-Solar synthesis]
Earlier reporting by socialbites.ca noted discussions by MP Milonov about creating a Russian Tinder-style platform with authorization through Gosuslugi, highlighting ongoing interest in digitized approaches to registry management and identity verification. [Source: socialbites.ca archival note]