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ARTICLE

Russia Has a Blackmail Problem [EXCERPT]
NEWSWEEK
Brendan Cole
11-18-2023
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russia-has-a-blackmail-problem/ar-AA1k95eZ?cvid=412a7d3c603a43d2ac7c8f4d3d329c53&ocid=winp2fptaskbar&ei=80

Phone scammers have targeted Russian politicians, after an admission by a Kremlin propagandist that she was a victim of “extortion” and pays to ensure she is not subject to negative media coverage.
Dmitry Gusev, a deputy in Russia’s parliament, the Duma, has said that he was among politicians who had received messages purporting to be from those chairing the committees they sit on.

On Thursday, Gusev posted on his Telegram channel screenshots of messages that had allegedly been written by Oleg Morozov, who is the chairman of the Duma’s control committee. Morozov is sanctioned by the EU and has said on Russian state television that Russia could attack Poland and the U.K.

“They start communicating and ask, ‘do you know such and such a person?’” Gusev wrote, “then they offer to solve some issue, provide assistance, and so on. Colleagues, don’t be fooled,” added Gusev. He is a member of A Just Russia - For Truth, a party in the country’s systemic opposition considered sympathetic to the Kremlin.

Gusev told the Telegram channel Mash that, when he received the message, which he thought Morozov had sent, he had agreed to his request to meet in person.

“Naturally, no one showed up at the scene, and the scammers went ignored,” Mash reported, without specifying who wrote the messages and adding the case had been referred to Russia’s prosecutor’s office.

In turn, Morozov appealed to lawmakers not to respond to “strange requests and appeals” purportedly sent by him.
received a message on my behalf with an offer to call back, send funds, or other requests, do not respond, as this is a fake,” Piskarev wrote