opportunity for communication and exchange of
information, however, thanks to the functions
described above, informatization becomes the object
of attention of the criminals, and when it seems in the
hands of criminals, it turns into an “instrument” of
committing crime encroachments (Meshkova, 2003).
The emergence and development of mobile
telephone communications led not only to the
intensive development of modern society in the field
of its informatization, but also to the introduction of
the achievements of science and technology when
committing fraudulent actions.
The negative consequences of fraud committed
using mobile telephone communications means, in a
broad sense, include the threat to the information
security of the state, information and psychological
security of the individual, wide opportunities for the
use of disinformation and manipulation of
consciousness, the widespread use of information
systems and networks in illegal activities
(Merzogitova, Mayorova, 1998). The information
space is an ideal environment for the activities of
criminals, since access to it is extremely easy, the
potential environment for illegal activities is
significant, and it is easy to ensure the anonymity of
users, it is not controlled by anyone and is extremely
poorly controlled (Zharova, 2019).
Technological schemes developed and applied by
criminal groups using mobile telephony are
distinguished by a high degree of thoughtfulness and
organization, can be both fairly simple and multi-
stage, spatially separated and lasting in time. At the
same time, different areas of illegal activity in various
areas are interconnected and synchronized with each
other in the process of preparing and committing a
crime (Sukhodolov, Ivantsov, Borisov, Spasennikov,
2017).
It should be emphasized that the problem of
disclosing fraud committed using communication
means is one of the most urgent in the field of
combating ordinary and penitentiary crime. It is
determined by the high latency of these crimes and
the fact that 93.7% of people living in Russia use
mobile telephone services, which makes them
potential victims of "telephone scams".
Since mid-2008, "telephone fraud" has spread in
prisons as well. This is due to the fact that the
specifics of staying in institutions of the Penal System
of the Russian Federation (hereinafter - PS)
predetermines an extremely high degree of demand
for communication services for suspects, accused and
convicted persons.
The surge in mobile phone fraud has naturally
attracted the attention of science. In recent years,
dissertation research has been carried out on issues
affecting the designated problems (M.N. Bogdanov,
S.V. Gorobchenko, S.N. Kazinskaya, B.A. Kurinov,
V.V. Malygina, I.M. Mishina, A.N. Rozin, A.A.
Nuzhdina). However, their analysis shows that they
are dedicated to:
the study of general issues of fraud investigation
methodology;
prepared taking into account the specifics of
certain areas of activity (banking, housing, etc.).
As for the issues of operational and investigative
counteraction to crimes committed in the institutions
of the penal system using information and
communication systems, they were not the subject of
independent scientific research.
In this regard, the purpose of the study described
in this article is to generalize knowledge that allows
the development of comprehensive scientifically
grounded measures to improve operational-search
activities to disclose fraud committed using
communications.
Achievement of the set research goal necessitated
the formulation and solution of the following tasks:
1) to investigate the current state of operational
and investigative activities to disclose fraud
committed using communication means;
2) develop scientifically grounded
recommendations and proposals for improving the
organization of operational-search activities to
disclose fraud committed using mobile telephone
communications.
Thus, this article will consider the problematic
issues of operational-investigative counteraction to
crimes committed using information and
communication systems, including by persons held in
penal institutions.
2 MATERIALS AND METHODS
The methodology and methods of research represent
a system of general scientific and special legal means
and methods of cognition that ensure objectivity and
comparativeness in the study of operational-search
activities to disclose fraud committed using
communications. Among them, in the process of
work, the comparative legal method, general
scientific methods of analogy and statistics, induction
and deduction, sociological methods of questioning,
interviewing, content analysis, and other research
tools of modern socio-humanities were used, which
make it possible to comprehensively study the stated
topic of the article. Analyzed the current legislation,