Stepan Chudin, an 18-year-old blogger, and his minor accomplice, Sergei, have been placed under house arrest in St. Petersburg, suspected of committing a series of frauds targeting young online gamers. The pair are accused of defrauding children of their parents’ money through a scheme involving the online game Standoff 2.

The investigation revealed that Chudin, a YouTube blogger, enticed children aged 10-12 with promises of free in-game currency (“gold”). He would publish videos and conduct live streams offering the virtual currency in exchange for contacting a specified phone number and bot link.

Sergei allegedly contacted the victims via chat, offering to buy virtual gold from them. The victims were then persuaded to photograph their parents’ bank cards and send the SMS verification codes they received.

Funds were then allegedly drained from the parents’ accounts. One instance involved over 112,000 rubles being stolen from the mother of one of Chudin’s viewers.

While investigators sought to have the suspects detained in a pre-trial detention center, the court denied the request. The Investigative Committee has confirmed 10 instances of fraud, and the detainees have reportedly confessed.