The article studies telephone fraud as a new type of crime and an acute social problem. Attention is drawn to the complex nature of the problem, as it should be considered in the plane of different disciplines: general jurisprudence, criminology, social psychology, social engineering, information technology. The Bank of Russia estimates the scale of spread of this type of crime and the amount of stolen money. According to statistics, the majority of fraudulent schemes are based on social engineering techniques. The results of a sociological survey of the population conducted under the guidance of the authors of the article are indicated. It is stated that at present the coverage of the population by this type of crime is insignificant, but at the same time the majority of citizens admit that they can become a victim of telephone fraudsters. One tenth of people who receive calls from an unknown number do not interrupt the conversation, even if they realize that a fraudster is calling. Thus, they find themselves in a situation of the greatest risk. It is concluded that citizens do not take an active position in the fight against telephone fraud and very rarely report suspicious calls to the police. Based on the results of the study recommendations are given regarding the improvement of the system of prevention and fight against telephone fraud.