State Duma deputy Sergey Boyarsky proposed considering the disconnection of international communication on landline phones to combat fraud, TASS reported. He claims that fraudulent calls have migrated from WhatsApp* and Telegram messengers to landline communication.
“And there, international calls need to be turned off. Law enforcement says this because the most vulnerable people are the elderly. They [fraudsters] call home, then can clarify something according to the scenario, switching to mobile communication. But in principle, I think we need to follow the same path and turn it off, and for those who need it — create a convenient mechanism to remove this possibility,” Boyarsky stated.
In addition, he expressed hope for the soon implementation of a device identification system by IMEI. In his opinion, telecom operators should provide citizens the opportunity to link a SIM card to a specific device — so that when installed in another device, it stops working. Law enforcement uses IMEI to identify a specific device in operators' networks, track its movements, and also identify related devices and contact networks.
Earlier, Roskomnadzor began to restrict the possibility of calls on WhatsApp and Telegram “to counter criminals,” and then started completely blocking the messengers on the same grounds.
Meanwhile, deputies do not pay attention to the Max messenger, which is also actively used by fraudsters.
* The owner of WhatsApp, Meta, is recognized in Russia as an “extremist” organization.