I’ve said it before and I’ll keep repeating it: I don’t use MAX as my primary app and I don’t recommend it to anyone. There was a detailed article where the full danger of the national messenger was described. But there is a category of people for whom installing this app carries particularly serious risks. We’re talking about elderly people: grandmothers, grandfathers, older parents. They are the ones who become the main target of criminals who have long mastered the government messenger as a tool for fraud. And it’s not just that scammers message through MAX — they call there, impersonate officials, and systematically destroy the lives of those who can’t react in time.
MAX is contraindicated for retirees
Who Becomes a Victim in MAX
Elderly people install MAX not because they want to, but because they are forced to. School group chats with grandchildren have moved there, clinics send reminders through the national messenger, neighbors invite them there too. A person aged 65-70 installs the app because “they were told to,” knowing nothing about the service itself or what data is linked to it.
Scammers moved to MAX for exactly this reason: that’s where the audience that doesn’t know how to recognize fraud schemes has concentrated. A young, technically savvy user will most likely recognize a suspicious call. But a retiree from Revda who receives a call from a “Roskomnadzor employee” telling her that her apartment is under threat — won’t. That’s exactly how a 65-year-old resident of the Sverdlovsk region lost 1,785,000 rubles and her home: through the MAX messenger, criminals hijacked her property, convincing her to sell everything and transfer the money to a “safe account.”
How Scammers Use MAX
There are several schemes, and they are constantly being refined. They all share one thing: scammers through MAX call and impersonate officials: Roskomnadzor employees, doctors, couriers, messenger representatives. Here’s how it works in practice.
Retirees are very trusting, and scammers in MAX eagerly exploit this
Scheme 1: Stealing a Gosuslugi account. Scammers started defrauding people through MAX from its very first months of existence. The criminal calls, claims to be a national messenger employee, and says they need to “activate a security account.” They then ask the victim to dictate an SMS code. In reality, it’s a Gosuslugi code. Once they get it, the scammer hijacks the account, takes out loans, and commits other illegal actions in the victim’s name.
Scheme 2: Apartment hijacking. A retiree receives a call through MAX, from someone claiming to be a courier or a technician, asking for an SMS code for “order processing.” After that, a “Roskomnadzor employee” calls and informs her that through this code, scammers have gained rights to her property. To “save” the apartment, she needs to urgently sell it and transfer the money where they say. The outcome is obvious.
Getting an apartment back after something like this will be very difficult
Scheme 3: Forced MAX installation. Scammers ask people to install the MAX app, posing as doctors, colleagues, or officials. The goal is to gain access to the account, through which they can now intercept Gosuslugi login codes. Previously, they needed access to a SIM card. Now, hacking one messenger is enough.
Why MAX Is Dangerous in 2026
What makes MAX dangerous in the context of fraud is not a rhetorical question. The problem lies in the concentration of data. Previously, a criminal needed to obtain several keys: a SIM card, bank details, access to Gosuslugi. Now MAX concentrates everything in one place:
- Integration with Gosuslugi and login confirmation through the messenger;
- Digital ID with passport, SNILS, TIN, and OMS policy;
- Planned integration of banks within a single app;
- Chat history from which codes and passwords can be extracted.
One hacked MAX account, and the scammer has a complete document package of a person. This is a fundamentally new level of risk compared to any previous messenger. MAX security does not include end-to-end encryption: the privacy policy explicitly states that data can be shared with third parties. For an elderly person who doesn’t read license agreements and doesn’t know what end-to-end encryption is, this sounds abstract. But the consequences are very concrete.
Why There Are So Many Scammers in MAX
Scammers in MAX appeared practically from the messenger’s very first day. Officials claimed effective efforts to combat them: according to Roskomnadzor, 70,000 scammer SIM cards were blocked. But real stories about how a retiree from Kursk lost 444,000 rubles, and a resident of Revda lost her apartment, show that claims about MAX security and reality are far apart.
MAX won’t save you from scammers and will become their new den — I’ve been saying this from the very beginning. The logic is simple: scammers go where vulnerable people are. MAX has gathered exactly those people: retirees who were pushed into the messenger through administrative pressure, older adults accustomed to trusting anything official, and those who don’t understand digital security. This is the perfect environment for criminals.
How to Protect Your Parents in MAX
If you can’t convince your parents or grandparents to stop using MAX, set up the app for them. A few specific steps will reduce the risk of falling for a scheme:
- Enable safe mode. Go to “Profile” — “Security” — “Safe mode.” In this mode, calls and messages are only accepted from contacts in the phone book. Strangers simply won’t be able to get through.
- Restrict search by phone number. “Profile” — “Security” — “Search by phone number.” Switch to “Contacts.” This way random people won’t find the account through search.
- Don’t create a Digital ID. If one has already been created — explain to your relative that under no circumstances should anyone be shown the QR code from this section.
- Explain the main rule: no one can ever ask for an SMS code over the phone. Not a courier, not a doctor, not a Roskomnadzor employee, not a “MAX specialist.”
Safe mode will at least help somewhat
The most reliable protection is not MAX security settings, but understanding the basic rules. An SMS code is the key to everything. Whoever takes it gets access to Gosuslugi, documents, and money. No exceptions, no “but I had a reason.”
