The Russian Interior Ministry talked about ways to recruit teenagers on the Internet

Recruiters search for potential victims among teenagers on social media, paying special attention to users who actively post content and react emotionally to political topics. This was announced on November 13 by the Department for the Organization of the Fight against the Illegal Use of Information and Communication Technologies (UBK) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

"Recruitment almost always starts with harmless correspondence and builds on your weaknesses. The main tool is social networks and messengers. Attackers analyze personal pages. They choose those who demonstrate activity, react vividly to political content, but do not have a clear personal position," the department warned, the recording is available on the department's Telegram channel.

They explained that the attackers study users' personal pages and start communicating with messages that initially do not arouse suspicion. To protect against such threats, teenagers are advised not to disclose personal information, use strong passwords, and be careful about unfamiliar accounts and private chats.

If unknown people offer to perform questionable tasks, send suspicious videos, or incite them to illegal actions, the Interior Ministry advises to immediately stop correspondence. The incident should be reported to parents, teachers, or other adults whom the teenager trusts, as well as to the police.

The ministry also recalled article 31 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for exemption from criminal liability for a crime that a person voluntarily and completely refused to commit. However, the exemption does not apply to actions that have already been committed if they contain elements of another crime. The Interior Ministry called on teenagers who have already begun to carry out recruitment tasks to seek timely help from adults and law enforcement officers.

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Anton Klyuchko, head of the Klyuchko, Landau & Partners law office, told Izvestia on October 17 that in Russia, fraudsters are increasingly involving teenagers in criminal schemes as couriers, recruiting them through online games under the guise of easy earnings. The problem affects all age groups, and long-known tricks continue to work due to a lack of prevention.