Russian Ministry: Fraudsters Using Citizens’ Smart Home Devices to Mine Crypto

A Russian ministry has issued a warning, claiming that fraudsters are using malware to infect citizens’ smart home devices with crypto mining malware.

The Russian newspaper Izvestia reported that the Ministry of Internal Affairs says hackers try to “infect devices with malware” and “create a network” of smart devices.

Russian Ministry Explains How to Avoid Crypto Mining Malware

The ministry said these “systems” can also “become a base for DDoS attacks, covert surveillance, and robberies.”

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow. (Source: Lodo27 [CC BY-SA 3.0])

Additionally, the ministry advised citizens to frequently change their smart home device passwords and network names.

It said that citizens should install their device’s latest firmware updates and “choose devices sold by market-leading companies.”

The ministry concluded by advising Russians to configure each of their smart home devices individually, rather than use group settings options.

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Crypto-related fraud is on the rise in Russia, with criminals apparently growing ever more sophisticated in their methods.

The media outlet IA Sakha News reported on March 25 that public prosecutors in Yakutsk are investigating a case involving a resident who was allegedly duped into handing over around $4,600 to a gang of “fraudsters.”

Prosecutors think the gang have been “posing as employees of a crypto brokerage company,” and convincing residents to “invest in” a bogus crypto exchange.

The local prosecution service says it has launched a “criminal case,” and a wider investigation into the allegations.

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Outside the world of fraud, illegal crypto mining continues to cause problems for power providers and grid operators in areas such as the North Caucasus and Siberia.

Lake Baikal, in the Siberian oblast of Irkutsk, Russia. (Source: Aleksey Zadonsky [CC BY-SA 4.0])

Areas such as Irkutsk, Russia’s first and biggest Bitcoin mining hotspot, have succeeded in convincing Moscow to issue bans on crypto mining in the winter months.

These bans operate in many parts of the country until 2031. But some officials appear to have suggested they are doing little to benefit Irkutsk.

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While illegal miners do not abide by these bans, the measures may also be freeing up energy at times when end-users do not need extra power.

Speaking to the news outlet Kommersant on March 24, Ilya Brilliantov, the Acting General Director of the Irkutsk Electric Grid Company, said that in the territory of Priangarye (a region surrounding the River Angara), the ban had freed up 308 MW of capacity from “legal miners.”

However, Brilliantov said:

“This capacity was not in demand during the specified period. So consumers did not feel any effect of the ban in terms of the quality of electricity.”

‘Bans Are Having an Effect,’ Deputy Minister Claims

Brilliantov further added that the seasonal ban had left the power firm with “about 800 million rubles ($9.5 million)” less revenue in the 2024-2025 fall-winter period than at other times of the year, as legal miners powered down their rigs.

Chita, in Transbaikal, Russia. (Source: Volker2602 [CC BY-SA 2.5])

Elsewhere, local government officials have claimed that the bans are indeed having a palpable effect.

Kirill Gazayev, Transbaikal’s First Deputy Minister of Housing and Public Utilities, Energy, Digitization, and Communications, said that “the capacities freed up in the Irkutsk Oblast have increased the reliability of the energy system during the winter.”

Gazayev claimed that no legal miners are currently active in Transbaikal. He also said that his ministry’s investigations had not uncovered “any” illegal or quasi-legal crypto miners operating in the region.

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