Claude verification for 350,000 rubles: a black market opens in Russia

A couple of days ago Russian users started reporting en masse that Claude was demanding ID checks and banning accounts even behind a VPN (we covered it here). Now the problem has a price tag. Listings titled «Claude account verification» have popped up on Avito, Russia's biggest classifieds site: one asks 40,000 rubles with a «pay for results» note, another wants 350,000 rubles for a consultation, «support through every stage of verification» and help setting up the account.

The sellers guarantee nothing. Anthropic still has the final say, so the only promise is a refund if the account gets banned after the procedure anyway.

What exactly the buyer gets is an interesting question. Anthropic's checks are run by Persona: you need an original physical photo ID and a phone with a camera, sometimes a live selfie that is matched against the photo on the document. Scans, copies and digital IDs are not accepted. There is no honest way to pass that check on someone else's behalf, and using another person's face and passport breaks the rules and is a ban reason in itself.

Russia isn't first here. In China, where Claude is also officially unavailable, this market already runs in the open: sites charge 299 to 499 yuan for KYC and openly say the check is done by «real local people» abroad. In other words, the account gets tied to someone else's identity. Next to that, the Russian prices look astronomical.

Paying 350,000 rubles for something Anthropic can undo with one click is a bold investment.