From fake cops to extreme honesty: what schemes are used by phone scammers in 2024

[Father]

Reports of new fraudulent schemes come almost every day. We understand how not to become a "client" of this dynamic "industry".
By the end of 2023, the share of cybercrimes in Russia (including the notorious calls from scammers) was almost a third of the total number, as told by Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev.
Much has changed since then, but not the activity of criminals who "tempt" Russians with calls from "bank employees" and "FSB". What you need to know to avoid becoming a victim of "divorce" and what new schemes are used by fraudsters in 2024.

Types of phone fraud​

A few words about the terms. Probably the most famous word herephishing– a word that almost everyone has heard over the past couple of years. The essence of a phishing call is to get personal data, most often-three cherished digits on the back of the card. To do this, scammers come up with a variety of characters (including "bank employees" who are already tired). However, the term "phishing" is more often used in relation to online mailings (messages, letters), and the same thing, but over the phone, is also calledvishing.
Another funny word, but not a very funny phenomenon, issmishing, which includes sending malicious (phishing) links in SMS messages.
Here you can also mention another option –farming, in which a person is "hooked" on a PC or phone with malicious code that redirects the user from a normal site to a fake site by spoofing IP addresses, where a form for filling in personal data is already "eagerly waiting".

Phone fraud schemes​

Criminals operate under a wide variety of scenarios and in most cases have already moved away from "your son was in an accident" and "I am a bank employee-they want to steal your money". However, this is a classic, and there are still scammers who use such visits.
In the first scenario, fake employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the "relative" himself call with a story about how he hit someone or vice versa, he was shot down. The main thing here is that money is urgently needed and a courier will come for it soon, and in no case can you tell anyone anything.
In the second case, the caller introduces himself as a bank security officer or, again, a police officer and reports: your money is in danger, someone is trying to take a loan on you right now or requests a money transfer, but there is a way out – you just need to transfer all the funds to a "safe" account. Despite the fact that the scheme is very widely used and, it would seem, is already known to every schoolchild, fake "special services" even convince the unfortunate people to participate in "special operations" to catch intruders – for example, to throw a Molotov cocktail into the building so that they "run out and tie them all up." Buildings usually end up as military registration and enlistment offices.

However, the" creative department " of scammers works perfectly, and they do not stop at time-tested schemes. In early March, the official TG channel of the relevant Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs identified as many as seven new scenarios. Some of them, of course, are variations of the "classics".
So, Russians began to send voice messages and call "relatives and friends" with AI-generated votes and requests, for example, to vote for their nephew in the contest using a phishing link. And "bank employees" now also offer to put some kind of antivirus application on the phone, which supposedly protects the data in the smartphone, but in fact performs exactly the opposite task.
Another currently popular variation of deception is the promise of golden mountains, if only you invest some pennies in a "crypt" or other "promising enterprise". More often, of course, this is done not by calls, but in instant messengers or by mail.
The victim is asked to install the app on the phone, open a personal account on the site, where even the interest is constantly running up. The illusion can persist for a long time, months or even years – all until the person tries to withdraw the" earned " millions. Then it turns out that this is just a screen, and "invested" in fact in someone's pocket.

By the way, there is an opposite option. On April 3, the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Irina Volk, reported that calls to victims of financial pyramids are recorded in Russia. At the other end, they introduce themselves as lawyers and offer assistance in withdrawing funds that ended up in the hands of fraudsters. The victim is offered to conclude a contract by providing personal data, then they call from a supposedly "foreign bank", saying that the money is about to be returned-you only need to pay 10% of the victim's account amount, and they promise to return it. Funds, of course, disappear forever after manipulation.
In addition, scammers have begun to target those who are looking for work. A call is received from a potential employer who offers to conduct an interview online and fill out a questionnaire right in the process, where you need to specify your bank card details. After the conversation, the person does not receive any job offers – only loses money, and then his card also pops up in the schemes for "cash out".
Another popular trick is to offer payments from the state by calling on behalf of employees of the FSB, Rosfinmonitoring, the Federal Tax Service or the Social Fund of Russia. Scammers report that the money is already waiting, you just need to name your bank card details.
Another option: you have violated something and must pay a fine so that your account is not blocked. Scammers even send a receipt on a very similar departmental form.
The newest fraudulent scheme is even poetic – they are presented, in fact, as scammers. First, an "employee of the mobile operator" calls, who asks to name the code from the SMS to extend the contract for the provision of communication services. And then the "saviors" call, who say: you were deceived, but now we will fix everything, and then the scheme with a "safe account"begins.

Gosuslugi and fraudsters​

In a separate category of new scams, we can distinguish cases where the target is not bank or passport data, but an account on "State Services". Passwords are lured away by the same phone calls or, for example, push notifications. A similar attack, for example, was recorded at the end of March: people were sent messages about the need to verify their phone number or confirm their passport data using the attached link.

An account on Gosuslugi can be used in various "unpleasant" variations. First, using the service, you can get a loan using fake documents and your real income statement. Secondly, they can "hijack" the tax deduction by sending the necessary applications themselves, only specifying their bank account.
Finally, an account on Gosuslugi is a treasure trove of information where scammers can find out almost everything about you: for example, medical information. This can be used against you in case of a fraudulent call or mailing list.

Signs of phone fraud​

For all the variety of "images" that scammers use, they almost always have a few things in common. Experts of the Central Bank have formulated five of them.

1. This is a call or text message from an unknown number, which should already be suspicious.
2. Sooner or later, the conversation will always run into money.
3. Huge amounts: false brokers will talk about 1000% profitability, and fake cops on the contrary-claim that you are about to lose everything at all.
4. They persistently try to extract data from the card turnover or other personal data from you.
5. Last and perhaps most important, the fraudster always puts pressure on the fact that the decision needs to be made now, time is limited, in no case allowing you to calmly analyze what you have heard.

How to identify a phone fraudster​

In addition to the mentioned signs and schemes, the fraudster can be calculated even by some phrases. In January of this year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs published the top 8 phrases and utterances that you can safely hang up on.

• Loan application completed;
• Central Bank Employee;
• Special or Secure account;
• Investigative actions are underway, help detain scammers and do not disclose information;
• They are trying to steal your money, and a suspicious operation has been detected;
• The SIM card expires;
• Dictate the code from the SMS message;
• You are concerned about a financial security specialist, an employee of the bank's security service.

What you can't tell phone scammers​

At this point, it will be faster to tell what data can be shared with third parties without fear that you will lose money. As explained by banking experts, outsiders can safely tell: the number of the card itself and the account to which it is linked, last name and first name. However, it should be noted that even this is better not to say if you are not sure of the interlocutor.
As for what you can not tell anyone by phone in any case: a three-digit code on the back of the card, its validity period, passwords and logins from any accounts, as well as incoming SMS codes.

Cybersecurity experts note that in general, it is better not to spread with strangers, including in absentia, posting photos in social networks. Everything said will be used against you (the more information, the easier it is to "divorce" the victim and gain their trust or, for example, find a password). In addition, you should not post pictures of plane tickets or even events. With the help of a barcode from your boarding pass, a criminal can get into your personal account on the airline's website (not to mention the fact that you report when you are not at home). Data from a concert ticket can be used to simply resell it.
You can't upload photos of documents in social networks either, but this goes without saying, and it is also not recommended to store such photos in the "saved" messengers – they are quite vulnerable.

Where to contact after a call from phone scammers​

First of all, even if you were not deceived and you did not lose anything, contact the police. Attempted fraud is also a crime. If you want to take care of those whom the specialists of criminal call centers will call further, you can perform a number of other operations.

– The first step is to call your bank's hotline and provide the number from which the call was received. Some banks transmit this information to mobile operators for verification purposes. The second step is to contact the mobile operator directly, through a website or application, "RIA Novosti quotes Viktor Dostov, head of the Association of Participants in the Electronic Money and Money Transfer Market, as explaining how to block a fraudster's phone.

How to protect yourself from phone scammers​

There are also several methods of protection, as well as fraud schemes. Specifically with the phone, you can always deal with the "zoom" method – never pick up the phone at all. There are, of course, less radical options.
The main preventive advice is to stay calm and not make a fuss. As a rule, if a person has time to think about everything, then both the call and the situation begin to seem strange, and then he already clarifies the information in the bank or in the official department from which he was allegedly called.

– The main advice is: do not rush to make a decision. Think carefully, check the information carefully, be vigilant, do not let yourself be deceived, "Stanislav Savchuk, head of the anti – fraud hotline, advised in an interview with RG.

This, of course, is a very general story, and everyone has a problem (both professors and proletarians are victims of fraud). There are also special tools to make your life easier.

If you persistently receive calls several times a week, or if you need to communicate with callers from unfamiliar numbers for work, you can install a caller ID app on your smartphone. Yandex caller ID, Caspersku Who Calls, Truecaller, Call App, Drupe – anyone can do it, but you need to remember that these apps work for a fee. This also includes "Oleg "from Tinkoff Bank, who works as a" secretary "and, according to the developers' promises, even scoffs at scammers.

There are other solutions from banks. So, some offer deposit insurance in case money "leaks out" after an unsuccessful conversation. Sberbank, VTB and Alfa-Bank were among the first to offer such an option to customers. The cost of the service most often does not exceed 2000 rubles per year (this, of course, also depends on how much you want to protect).

Finally, another method of prevention is to talk to relatives. And not only pensioners are meant. Yes, older people are more likely to become victims of "divorce", which is confirmed by statistics. So, for example, in Moscow alone in 2023, more than 10 thousand people became victims of remote theft, as the Interior Ministry told TASS. This is more than in all other age groups, but even there the number of victims goes to thousands.
First of all, of course, you need to talk not only with the elderly, but also with children who become targets not because of technical illiteracy, but because of simple inexperience. Children are also involved in the schemes of "cashiers", attracting easy earnings, and simply "bred" on the data of their parents cards.

— If a child suddenly starts spending more money on online games or in-app purchases, this may be a sign of their involvement in fraudulent schemes. Also, sudden secrecy and evasion from discussing their activity on the Network can signal danger – " Igor Shvetsov, an information security engineer at R-Vision, told Izvestia about signs of suspicious behavior.

It is worth remembering that scammers often use not the age, but the vulnerable position of a person – for example, they can call after some life upheavals. The most "tasty" for criminals are people who find themselves in a difficult situation, who are also lonely. Therefore, the social slogan "call your parents" is quite a preventive measure.