Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said Friday it detained more than 20 people at Moscow City, the capital's high-rise business district, accusing them of operating unregistered cryptocurrency exchange offices that funneled money stolen from Russian scam victims to Ukraine.

The FSB, acting jointly with the Interior Ministry, said it shut down nine channels used to transfer funds abroad through cryptocurrency. The agency did not identify the specific exchanges, the cryptocurrencies involved, or the total amount of money stolen. It also did not release evidence to substantiate its claims that the operation was coordinated through Ukrainian call centers.

According to authorities, the alleged criminal ring relied on call centers based in Ukraine to remotely target Russian citizens, including pensioners. Victims were reportedly kept on the phone and given step-by-step instructions before being directed to the unregistered crypto exchange offices, where they were told to purchase cryptocurrency and transfer it to accounts controlled by the suspects.

The tactic described by the FSB mirrors a well-documented pattern of social engineering fraud — frequently involving impersonation of technical-support agents or government officials — that has targeted elderly populations globally. Russia's Central Bank has previously reported that citizens lose billions of rubles annually to phone-based financial scams, with cryptocurrency purchases increasingly serving as a preferred method for moving proceeds outside the traditional banking system.

"Young people from the Russian regions who are looking for easy money are remotely recruited to work at these crypto exchanges despite having limited financial literacy," the FSB said in a statement.

The number of Russian citizens affected by the alleged scam was not disclosed.

The raids also highlight the ambiguous regulatory environment surrounding cryptocurrency operations in Russia. While President Vladimir Putin signed legislation in 2024 legalizing cryptocurrency mining and permitting the use of digital assets for cross-border settlements, domestic retail trading through unregistered physical exchange offices — like those at Moscow City — remains outside the legal framework. Authorities have periodically launched enforcement actions against such venues, though enforcement has been inconsistent.

The crackdown is part of a broader effort by Moscow to target entities it believes are connected to Ukraine. In January, Russia banned the Ukrainian-founded cryptocurrency exchange WhiteBit, designating it as part of increasing measures against firms that authorities claim are funding Ukraine's war effort.