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,