Li Auto owners in Russia face scams that can leave cars immobilized

Owners of Li Auto SUVs in Russia are facing a new wave of scams in which fraudsters hijack the vehicles’ master accounts and demand ransom payments to restore access, Autonews reported.

Once owners lose access to their accounts, their cars’ multimedia and climate control systems stop working. In some cases, the engine may not start.

How accounts are compromised

The scam centers on the Li Auto master account, the primary owner account linked to the company’s official app. It allows users to remotely lock and unlock the doors, start the engine, control the climate system and access other vehicle functions.

Once fraudsters gain access to the account, they contact the owner and demand a ransom to restore access. According to Alexander Rasskazov, co-founder of the Lixiang owners’ club in Russia and the CIS, at least 20 victims are known, but the actual number may be much higher.

Rasskazov suspects that fraudsters use VINs obtained from leaked insurance company databases to identify car owners.

Ransom demands

Fraudsters demand 35,000 to 45,000 rubles (approximately $429 to $552) to restore access to the account. During the previous wave of attacks in summer 2025, their demands were significantly higher, ranging from 200,000 to 250,000 rubles (approximately $2,454 to $3,067).

Rasskazov outlined several possible ways fraudsters could gain access to the accounts:

• Guessing passwords;
• Using stolen data belonging to owners in China;
• Obtaining logins and verification codes directly from car owners.

The latter may share their account details with third-party specialists for Russian-language localization, app setup and vehicle firmware modifications. The exact mechanism behind the attacks has yet to be established.

Owners affected by the scam are advised not to pay the ransom and to report the incident to the police. Li Auto owners are also advised to follow these digital security measures:

• Check that the master account is linked to a Chinese phone number registered under the owner’s passport;
• Keep the phone number’s service active by renewing it on time;
• Change the password for the eSender service and avoid reusing old passwords;
• Never share logins, passwords or SMS verification codes with third parties, including localization specialists;
• If access to the app is lost, save screenshots and contact the police and Li Auto support.

Li Auto’s planned changes

Li Auto is working with its Russian distributor to develop a system for verifying legitimate owners and restoring access to master accounts. One option under consideration is switching authentication from Chinese phone numbers to email addresses. The system is already available in 2026 model-year vehicles.

The distributor pledged to extend the new solutions to both officially imported SUVs and vehicles brought into Russia through parallel imports.