The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has taken action to shut down a platform utilized by numerous criminals to defraud victims worldwide through spoofed phone calls.
Russian Coms, founded in 2021, is suspected of being responsible for financial losses amounting to tens of millions of pounds, with an estimated 170,000 individuals across the UK believed to have fallen victim.
This platform enabled criminals to obscure their identities by making calls that appeared to originate from selected numbers, primarily of financial institutions, telecommunications companies, and law enforcement agencies. Between 2021 and 2024, users of Russian Coms made over 1.3 million calls to approximately 500,000 distinct UK phone numbers. Those who reported losses to Action Fraud experienced average financial damages exceeding £9,400.
Initially available as a handset and later as a web app, Russian Coms was promoted through platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram, and Telegram. Advertisements highlighted features like “unlimited minutes,” “hold music,” “encrypted phone calls,” “instant handset wipe,” international calling, voice-changing services, and around-the-clock support.
The specialized handset was designed solely for making spoofed calls and came preloaded with numerous non-functional fake applications, simulating a typical smartphone in case of seizure by law enforcement. It also included various VPN apps to mask the user’s IP address and a burn app that could instantly erase the phone’s data upon activation. The cost for a six-month contract ranged from £1,200 to £1,400, based on collection and delivery options.
The web app was branded as a “flagship service,” offering users access to the Russian Coms web phone for £350 per month, payable in cryptocurrency.
Adrian Searle, Director of the National Economic Crime Centre at the NCA, remarked, “Criminals are increasingly leveraging technology to perpetrate fraud and other crimes on an industrial scale, inflicting significant harm on victims in the UK and globally. While this ‘crime as a service’ model may promise anonymity, the service providers also store user data, allowing us to identify who the criminals are and how they operate.”
Three individuals have been arrested by the NCA, with two believed to be involved in the platform’s creation and development. They have been released on conditional bail. Searle indicated that law enforcement agencies in the UK and abroad, in collaboration with Europol, would pursue joint actions against users in the coming months.