Russians, unwillingly, donated more than USD 1.1 billion to AFU

Stanislav Kuznetsov, the chairman of the board of the largest bank of the occupation country of the russian federation, Sberbank, complained that in 2024 alone, russians gave almost RUB 250 billion (about USD 2.8 billion) to phone fraudsters. 40% of this amount, i.e. more than USD 1.1 billion, went to finance the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

He stated this on the air of the Russia-24 TV channel.

According to Kuznetsov, it is possible that by the end of 2024, the amount given by russians to fraudsters will reach RUB 300 billion (about USD 3.3 billion).

"The largest part of the money received by fraudsters, at least 40%, goes to finance the Armed Forces of Ukraine," complained Kuznetsov.

The banker said that almost three quarters of fraudsters use one of five themes when making phone calls. And the calls themselves are made either through messengers or using traditional cellular communication.

"Either it's the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB, the Central Bank, or it's a secure account, or the fifth thing is to tell us the code via SMS, then we'll save your money," Kuznetsov said about the topics on which russians most often get caught.

It is worth noting that Ukrainian fraudsters rob not only russians, but also Ukrainians. Thus, in 2023, the SSU covered a network of fraudulent call centers that "earned" more than UAH 3 billion from Ukrainians in a year.