Fraudsters are actively using multi-step calls to deceive residents of Nizhny Novgorod.

      On April 14, 2026, 17:19 Society In the Nizhny Novgorod region, there has been an increase in fraudulent calls structured according to complex multi-stage scenarios. Such are the data from the "MTS Defender" service. If in 2025, criminals often limited themselves to a single call, now they increasingly use two or more attempts to deceive the residents of Nizhny Novgorod. First, the fraudsters try to gain trust, and then they aim to obtain money transfers or personal data. Almost every seventh fraudulent call in the region is a multi-stage scheme. According to analysts, traditional methods of deception are losing effectiveness, so criminals are betting on personalized scenarios and increasing psychological pressure. Most often, they target people over 65 years old — this age group accounts for 58% of such calls. In 47% of cases, the criminals pose as employees of government agencies. In second place are investment and additional income offers, which account for 43% of complex schemes. Next are calls regarding pension and social issues (26.5%), as well as inquiries under the pretext of problems with utilities (20.6%). Slightly fewer calls (19.6%) are related to disguising as medical and insurance organizations, postal and courier services. The least common are cases where criminals pose as bank security service employees — such cases make up 3.4%. Most often, criminals call in the morning — from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM, when children and youth are at school, adults are at work, and elderly people are home alone. In the first three months of 2026, the "Defender" service blocked about 5.5 million spam calls in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The situation was particularly tense in February, when approximately 2.1 million fraudulent and advertising calls were intercepted. "At the core of the service is artificial intelligence that analyzes each suspicious call based on more than 200 criteria and can thwart the threat even before the subscriber picks up the phone. Thanks to the constant improvement of algorithms, the average duration of a blocked call in the Nizhny Novgorod region is already 13 seconds, and our goal is to reduce this time to mere seconds," noted Andrey Belov, director of MTS in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The specialist added that technology only helps to curb fraudsters, and common sense remains the last line of defense. Multi-stage deception is built on trust, so it is essential to verify information sources, be skeptical of unexpected offers, and actively use all available protection tools. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" has a Telegram channel. Subscribe to stay updated on major events, exclusive materials, and operational information. Copyright © 1999—2025 NIA "Nizhny Novgorod". When reprinting, a hyperlink to NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" is mandatory. This resource may contain materials 18+