Russian Li Auto Owners Face Master Account Theft and Extortion Up to 45,000 Rubles
Russian owners of Li Auto vehicles have encountered a new wave of master-account thefts that grant attackers remote control over the cars via the official mobile application.
After losing access, some vehicles experience disabled infotainment screens and climate control, while others face starting problems. Attackers subsequently offer to restore the account in exchange for payment.
Autonews.ru reported multiple extortion cases, and the issue was confirmed by a representative of Sinomach Auto, the official distributor of Li Auto in Russia. According to Alexander Rasskazov, co-founder of the Lixiang owners club, roughly 20 victims are known so far, with demanded sums ranging between 35,000 and 45,000 rubles.
The master account is directly linked to vehicle management through the branded application. Consequences vary: some owners see their car disappear from the profile entirely, while others lose individual functions. One victim was still able to operate the vehicle using a physical key after the Bluetooth key stopped working.
The precise theft mechanism has not yet been identified. Rasskazov noted that even owners who paid for Chinese phone numbers through the eSender service, previously considered a safeguard, are now being targeted.
Li Auto and its distributor are currently developing protective measures and an official account-recovery procedure. They also intend to switch account binding from Chinese phone numbers to email addresses. The new solutions are expected to cover both officially imported vehicles and parallel-import cars, although no timeline has been announced.
Related articles
How Vacation Photos Enable Family Impersonation Scams and Data Exposure
Public photographs from vacations and family events can reveal names, relationships, addresses, travel dates, and even security question answers without any hacking required. Attackers combine airport shots, hotel tags, school certificates, and relative comments to build convincing stories for emergency scams targeting grandparents or parents. The FTC has documented how scammers impersonate relatives using real details pulled directly from social media. NIST explicitly discourages security questions based on easily discoverable personal facts such as pet names or school names. Metadata like EXIF GPS coordinates and visible documents in the background further increase exposure risks. Practical steps include reviewing backgrounds, removing metadata, limiting audience settings, and establishing family code words that do not appear in public posts. The guidance covers iPhone, Android, Windows, and macOS methods for stripping location data before sharing images.
Russian Minister Proposes Blocking All SIM Cards of Scammers Banned in MAX Messenger
The head of Russia's Ministry of Digital Development has suggested expanding account bans in the MAX messenger to include full disconnection of all mobile numbers belonging to the same owner. Maksut Shadaev stated that simply restricting the messenger account is insufficient and that operators must continue countermeasures. The proposal also includes a cooling-off period preventing the individual from registering new numbers after a ban. Details on the duration of restrictions, data transfer procedures to operators, and appeal mechanisms remain undisclosed. Questions around accurate owner identification and cases of compromised or misused numbers are highlighted as critical for implementation. The measures target fraudsters specifically and would not apply automatically to every MAX rule violation.
Avito Develops Cyberdetective Browser Game to Train Employees on Real-World Attacks Using MITRE ATT&CK Techniques
Avito security awareness specialist Ilya Nikiforov created the browser-based Cyberdetective game over 74 days to move beyond traditional courses and train practical responses to attacks. The game places players in the fictional company Lumi where they control mascot Spok the honey badger, investigating six cases based on authentic attack chains documented in MITRE ATT&CK. Scenarios cover physical access via unlocked laptops, invoice domain spoofing, voice cloning of executives, MFA fatigue attacks, and evidence preservation during incident response. The project relied heavily on AI agents including Claude Code and Codex for coding and testing while Nikiforov handled scenario design, methodology, and acceptance. Additional AI tools generated art, animations, voiceovers, and music, resulting in 80 JavaScript modules, roughly 2,200 automated tests, and 18 distinct interactive mechanics. The game emphasizes safe mistake-making, chain-of-events thinking, and specific actions such as callback verification rather than blanket refusal of all requests.
Scammers Use *#62# USSD Command to Fabricate Surveillance Claims and Steal Victims' Funds
Fraudsters are exploiting the USSD command *#62# to convince targets that their phones are being tapped, then directing them to hand over cash to supposed couriers. The scheme begins with a familiar pretext such as a doorphone replacement or parcel delivery, after which the victim is tricked into revealing a verification code that the attackers themselves sent. A fake government official then claims the victim's account has been compromised and an extremist has been granted power of attorney. Victims are instructed to visit a counterfeit state website, enter *#62#, and interpret the displayed forwarding number as proof of interception. In reality the code only reveals call-forwarding settings for when the phone is unreachable, often showing a voicemail or missed-call service number. T-Bank warns that the displayed number has no connection to surveillance and urges anyone receiving such calls to hang up and contact the real organization through official channels.