Hackers hijack Li Auto owners' accounts in Russia and demand ransom to unlock the cars

Owners of Li Auto crossovers in Russia are losing control of their cars to hackers who steal the "master account" that links each vehicle to its owner, then demand money to give it back. At least 20 owners have been hit in the latest wave, according to Alexander Rasskazov, co-founder of the Lixiang owners' club for Russia and the CIS, CNews reported on 3 November. Some of the cars no longer start. Sinomach Auto, Li Auto's official distributor in Russia, has confirmed that the accounts are being stolen.

For a Li Auto, the master account works as a digital key: it is the owner's main profile in the brand's app, and most of the car's functions are tied to it. Once it is taken over, the screens go dark, climate control stops working and the Bluetooth key no longer responds. In some cars the engine will not start at all. One owner managed to drive off using the physical key, after which a message in Chinese appeared on the screen asking to "activate" the vehicle. In other cases the car simply disappears from the owner's profile.

Then comes the ransom demand. Owners are asked for 35,000 to 45,000 rubles to get their account back. During the first wave, in the summer of 2025, the price was 200,000 to 250,000 rubles. Rasskazov describes the new campaign as a "conveyor" built for volume rather than one-off blackmail, Habr quotes him as saying. Some victims have already sent documents to Li Auto in China, but none has got access back so far.

Read the full article on vpnlab.io: https://vpnlab.io/en/li-auto-account-hijack-russia-ransom-2026-3204