What fraud schemes exist

1. Depositing money into a “safe account” or “renewal of the service agreement”

This scheme is the most popular among fraudsters. Criminals may call via messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber), spoof phone numbers to appear as official bank numbers, and pose as employees of telecom operators, the bank’s security service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, or the Central Bank.

Common scenarios used by fraudsters

• Renewal of a service agreement with a bank or a mobile operator.

• Depositing money into a “safe account or deposit box”.

• Submitting an application for deactivation or for a loan to repay a loan allegedly taken out in your name by fraudsters.

• Installing an “antivirus” or “device protection” app. In fact, the fraudster is offering you an app to gain remote access to your devices.

They may tell you that there is a fraudster inside the bank, and that a criminal case has been initiated as part of the investigation; they may threaten you with articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation if you refuse to cooperate or disclose information about the “confidentiality of the investigation.” To make it more convincing, they may send photos of “ID cards” and “documents with stamps.”

Calls from “employees of mobile operators” are no less dangerous. Attackers may set up call forwarding for your calls and SMS messages to their phone number and intercept incoming calls and SMS messages. This way they gain access to your accounts and money.

2. Hacking social media accounts

Fraudsters may hack social media accounts. If you receive a message from someone you know asking you to transfer or lend them money, do not rush to transfer money to the bank details specified in the message. First, it is better to call your acquaintance and make sure that the message was really sent by them and not by a fraudster.

3. Remote work

Attackers send information about high-income job vacancies via messengers. They offer simple tasks and payment for each one. Examples of tasks: liking sellers on marketplaces or booking hotels to improve their ratings.

Fraudsters may indeed first pay a small amount, add you to work groups, and send screenshots of “colleagues’ earnings” there to convince you that income is possible. You may be offered to pay for goods in exchange for an even larger “salary,” but once you send the money, the salary will no longer be paid, the “employer” will block you and delete all correspondence.

4. Investments

Criminals create websites and messenger channels about investments and cryptocurrency, promising returns above 20%.

A manager or analyst from an “investment company” contacts you, offers to talk on Skype, and help you understand investments. On the fraudsters’ platforms, you are shown fake charts; in reality, the money does not reach the platform but is immediately cashed out by the attackers. They may be willing to transfer you “investment profits” to gain your trust, but this is only a small part of the amount you deposited.

If you want to withdraw all the money from the platform, the fraudsters will have excuses: you need to pay insurance or a withdrawal fee, but allegedly it is impossible to deduct it from the amount you deposited; withdrawal is possible only on a certain day, etc.  Fraudsters always look for ways to get even more from you.

5. Phishing website

Fraudsters create websites similar to official banking websites or online store websites; they can even be found in the top search results in a browser. Before visiting a website, make sure the address is correct. As a rule, one or more letters are replaced in fraudsters’ website addresses; for example, the English l is used instead of the English i. Official websites have an address bar that starts with https, and there is always a closed padlock icon — these are signs of a secure connection, as well as a special checkmark icon.

6. Fraud schemes on classified ad websites Avito and Yula

• They encourage you to transfer a prepayment before actually receiving the goods or services without concluding a contract.

• They send a fake waybill from a transport company as proof. Or they really send a product, but not the one you expect — instead, something significantly cheaper.

• They ask you to switch to another messenger so they can send a link there for “arranging a secure transaction” or for “receiving payment” for goods or services. In fact, the link leads to a card-to-card transfer form, and instead of the expected top-up or refund, money will be debited from your card.