In Russia, there have been reports of widespread remote lockouts of Chinese cars due to hacked accounts

Russian owners of Chinese Li Auto (Lixiang) vehicles imported through “parallel import” schemes have faced widespread hacking of their remote control accounts. 

Fraudsters are restoring Chinese phone numbers linked to these accounts through mobile carriers using forged documents, changing passwords, and demanding a ransom of up to 250,000 Russian rubles (about $3,077).

Once access to the account is lost, the vehicles’ multimedia screens turn off, climate control is disabled, and the engine cannot be started. At least 20 cases of extortion have been confirmed so far. The Li Auto Owners’ Club and the official distributor, Sinomach Auto, have enlisted Chinese specialists to resolve the issue, and owners are advised to re-register their license plates themselves, enable two-factor authentication, and change any passwords provided by intermediaries.

Source: Li Auto Owners’ Club.

After international automakers withdrew from the Russian market, the country began producing mostly outdated models of Chinese cars.

Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the closure of European markets, China became the only major economy supporting Moscow, effectively turning it into its economic satellite.