Fraudsters in an attempt to deceive the Russians come up with new schemes and legends, adjusting to the current situation. However, Olga Daineko, an expert at the Financial Literacy Center of the NIFI of the Russian Ministry of Finance, told RIA Novosti that the methods of “divorcing” are still the same: transfer funds to a “safe account with the Central Bank” or “confirm the cancellation of the account blocking.”
“Getting access to other people’s money with the help of social engineering (misleading, intimidation) is an effective way for a fraudster to make money,” the expert said. “Despite the fact that the information field is saturated with information about methods of deception and the need to comply with financial security measures, everything cannot be foreseen.”
According to Daineko, if earlier the conditional “law enforcement officer Major Sidorov” tried to convince the grandson or son “under criminal prosecution” or “it is necessary to participate in the operation to catch a swindler” to fish out money, now the potential victim is “accused of financing extremism and terrorism ” or “financing of enemy forces in the NWO.”
“The legends are new, but the methods are still the same: you need to transfer money to a “secure account with the Central Bank” or “confirm the cancellation of account blocking” with codes / passwords from bank notifications,” the expert notes.
She also adds that now the new scams are mainly related to the topics of SVO, extremism, treason, money laundering or tax evasion. Also, according to Daineko, the topic of changing passwords / phone numbers for “Gosuslugi”, personal accounts on marketplaces is often used, as well as fake QR codes are used for payment (for example, for paying for bike and kicksharing), and also QR are lured – codes for contactless cash withdrawal.
In addition, spam mailings with fake payment links, SMS (mimicking messages from a bank or government agencies), messages on social networks and malicious software for downloading are popular among scammers.
According to Daineko, in order not to fall for the trick of swindlers, it is necessary to focus not on “history”, but on actions that are being forced, pushed and rushed to take place.
“If you need to confirm or provide personal data, provide codes / passwords, transfer money as a “compensation” or for “security” purposes, download a program to your device – you need to immediately tell yourself “stop!”. There is no need to believe in persuasion and succumb to intimidation, ”Daineko draws attention.
She adds that real law enforcement or banking officials will not ask for access to an account, demand a bribe, or protect someone’s funds from being stolen by a “secure transfer”. The expert points out that at the first sign of panic or excitement, it is better to end the conversation and not take rash actions.
“If in doubt, you need to check your account in an accessible way (online or in person), call a relative who is“ in trouble ”(and even if you don’t get through, don’t panic – there may be objective reasons for the lack of an answer). Report the call itself to the police and the bank – this will help to “light up” the fraudulent number, the account number for the “safe” transfer, ”adds Daineko.
The expert pointed out that it is worth adhering to the basic rules of financial security, which will allow you not to fall for the bait of a scammer: keep calm; do not send secret card data; do not click on links that offer to download unnamed software; use a separate card for online purchases; carefully study the payment data before buying; if you suspect / are sure that bank data is available to third parties, block the card.
If the money nevertheless “left” into the pocket of the scammers, then you must immediately report the incident to the bank and law enforcement agencies, as well as block the bank card and write an application for a refund.
Despite the fact that in most cases it will not be possible to return the money, the information received from the victims can be useful – it allows you to create a “black” list of fraudulent phone numbers, accounts and devices, blocking the possibility of fraud using them in the future.
Source: Rosbalt
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