Money transfer fraud is widespread and continues to grow. There are a huge number of methods and tricks. Unfortunately, an impressive portion of such crimes remain unsolved due to various circumstances, but this is not a reason to give up, panic or do nothing - you have the right to try to get your money back by any legal method.
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Why transfer money using someone else's cards?
The development of online commerce has led to the flourishing of fraudulent schemes related to this activity. Various schemes are used for illegal enrichment: creating store pages on social networks, through fly-by-night websites or through trading platforms. Fraudsters offer products at a lower price or with more advantageous consumer properties.
In all cases, the transaction for the sale of goods requires prepayment. Transfer of money is expected to an anonymous bank card.
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Note!
To protect yourself from fraudsters, before making a payment, you must request full details of the account where the payment is intended, including the name and surname of the card holder.
If the seller insists on transferring to a card, you should request his data: full name and a photocopy of the passport page with photo. If you refuse to provide any information, you are faced with a fraudster.
"We are investigating a crime"
In this scheme, “investigators”, “employees of departments for combating economic crimes” and other false representatives of law enforcement agencies are involved in the case.
The criminal calls and introduces himself awkwardly. Then he says that they have recorded a case of fraud with cards, accounts, and loans. He may begin to intimidate or, conversely, show a desire to help in every possible way. The point is to encourage the victim to “cooperate with the investigation.”
A person supposedly needs to go to the bank, complete the loan application, take the money and transfer it to a special protected account. Fraudsters, of course. At the same time, the fake law enforcement officer will constantly maintain contact and find out how things are going so that the victim does not lose his temper.
How to protect your money
No matter how strange the police sometimes work, they certainly don’t do that. If the situation looks suspicious, you should either call back the department that the interlocutor named, or ask for an official call for a conversation. However, it is often enough to invite the fake employee to introduce himself clearly or talk about a more formal interaction, and the scammer hangs up. Sometimes I curse, but it’s easier to survive than losing money.
What to do if money is transferred
If, having already made a transfer of funds, you realize that you have become a victim of a fraudster, for example, the product was not delivered or its quality is far from promised, you should act immediately. There is a chance to return money transferred to scammers if you organize your actions correctly.
One option for getting your money back is to force the scammer to voluntarily return the money. Information about unscrupulous sellers can be found on the Internet, on thematic forums - with their help you can find other victims and even find out the details of the scammer. Fearing lawsuits, the fraudster can return the transferred money himself.
“Buy a ticket with us at a discount”
Phishing sites that disguise themselves as real pages of decent services and defraud users of money or data that allows them to steal savings are not new. But there are also trends here.
For example, despite the coronavirus restrictions for travelers, there has been more Seasonal deception: scammers with fake airline tickets have become more active / News of sites that sell fake airline tickets. The situation is similar with services that distribute tickets Report about the fraudulent scheme of the Telegram channel In4security for performances by stand-up comedians - fakes are actively multiplying.
But, of course, the matter is not limited to these two options, so when shopping on the Internet you should generally be more careful.
How to protect your money
As for air tickets, Roskachestvo and Aviasales have launched the website realbilet.rf, where you can check whether you are dealing with a real seller or a scammer. For other purchases, general rules apply: buy on trusted sites, do not fall for inappropriately generous promotions, and so on. And if you decide to pay, you need to make sure of the following:
- the address bar contains the correct address of the desired site;
- the site address begins with https - an extension of the HTTP protocol, which makes the connection more secure through encryption;
- The padlock in the address bar is closed - this also indicates a secure connection.
What to do if the identity of the fraudster cannot be established
If voluntary return is not possible, you can resort to a forced scheme.
1. The first step is to contact the bank.
If the money has already been transferred to the fraudster’s account, you must submit an application to the bank, indicating that the transfer was made in error and asking for a refund. There is a risk: scammers withdraw money from the account as soon as it arrives and return is physically impossible.
It is also pointless to require the bank to provide information about payment recipients - Article 26 of the Federal Law “On Banks and Banking Activities” dated December 2, 1990 No. 395-1 establishes the obligation of banks to keep information about their clients secret.
But you still need to submit a refund application to the bank - this document will be useful in the future. After handing the application to the bank representative, receive a stamp of acceptance on your copy indicating the full name and position of the person accepting it and the date of receipt of the document.
2. Contacting the police.
Armed with a copy of the application to the bank, as well as other evidence of the fraud that occurred - printouts of correspondence with the fraudster or screenshots from the site with his offer - you can go to the police station and write an official statement about the fraud that occurred.
The action of a deceiver can be qualified as fraud under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and if the preliminary investigation reveals the presence of signs of the specified composition, then the offender will be held criminally liable.
Note!
The police may not detect a crime - this does not mean that the money cannot be returned. As part of the preliminary investigation, the bank will be asked to provide personal information about the payee.
The rule of non-distribution of personal data of bank clients does not apply to requests from law enforcement agencies, and having the information of the offender, you can safely file a civil claim for the return of unjust enrichment.
3. Refund of money in court.
Article 1102 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation establishes a rule according to which if funds are acquired by a person unjustifiably, that is, not by virtue of a concluded bilateral transaction, they must be returned in full.
This rule should be the basis for the claims of the injured person.
Before filing a claim directly with the court, the offender must send an official claim, indicating the amount of unjust enrichment, the account where the money must be returned and the period within which the amount must be transferred. If the fraudster ignored the claim or refused, you can safely go to court.
The statement of claim is filed with the district court at the defendant’s place of residence and must contain the following information:
- name of the court where the application is filed;
- Full name of the plaintiff, his place of residence and passport details;
- Full name of the defendant, his place of residence;
- the essence of the situation: what happened and what damage was caused to the plaintiff;
- evidence confirming the circumstances set forth in the claim;
- the cost of the claim, including the amount of unjust enrichment and other claims that the plaintiff decides to make: the amount of state duty, costs of legal assistance, if any, moral damage. All claims must be summed up and a total calculation provided;
- information about a previously submitted claim;
- list of documents attached to the claim.
The trial will take more than one month, but the chance of eventually getting your money back is quite high.
Note!
The key stage in obtaining a refund in the described cases is obtaining the necessary information by the police, because a civil claim cannot be impersonal.
Article 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code establishes the obligation for police officers to conduct an investigation into all received reports of a crime, which is what a statement is.
In case of inaction of responsible officials, filing a complaint and demanding compulsion to carry out the necessary procedural actions to the prosecutor's office will help.
Contacting the bank
Let's say the money has already been debited from your card. In this case, first of all you need to try to resolve the issue with the bank.
First, you should call the hotline, describe your situation and ask to cancel the transfer (or temporarily suspend any actions from your card).
Then your order of actions should be like this:
- Go to the nearest branch of your bank and apply for a chargeback there. In the application, you will need to describe the problem in detail, indicate your account or card number, the date of the incident - generally speaking, justify the need for a refund.
- Provide a receipt that confirms payment.
- Register the application and keep a copy of it for yourself.
- Wait until the bank informs you of its decision - on average, such applications are considered within a month.
The legislative framework
To file a complaint against online scammers, you should rely on the following legislation:
- Civil Code of the Russian Federation N 14-FZ dated January 26, 1996. (as amended on March 28, 2017).
- Criminal Code of the Russian Federation N 63-ФЗ dated June 13, 1996. (as amended on July 18, 2017).
- Federal Law "On the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation" N 2202-1-F dated January 17, 1992. (as amended on July 29, 2017).
- Federal Law “On Police” No. 3-FZ dated 02/07/2011. (ed. dated July 29, 2017).
- Federal Law “On the procedure for considering appeals from citizens of the Russian Federation” No. 59-FZ dated May 2, 2006. (ed. 03.11.2015).
How to protect yourself from making erroneous money transfers?
And finally, some advice for those who are tired of double-checking the numbers of bank accounts or cards during financial transactions. Firstly, to optimize money transfers, you can create special templates in mobile banking. In addition, you can use a text editor, saving the numbers of frequently used accounts in it, and then copying and pasting them in the desired column during the translation. And of course, you can easily and securely transfer funds using the contact list in your mobile phone.
Directorate “K” of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia
One of the main tasks of Directorate “K” of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia is to combat fraud committed using the Internet and electronic payment systems. In order to obtain a return of funds transferred to the attackers, as well as to block a fraudulent site where illegal activities are carried out, the user can complain to Management “K” in the following ways:
- At a personal reception with an authorized employee at the reception of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is located at: Moscow, st. Sadovaya-Sukharevskaya, building 11. Its operating hours can be found on the page https://xn--b1aew.xn--p1ai/help/Priemnaja_MVD_Rossii. You can obtain information about the procedure for considering accepted applications received by the Ministry of Internal Affairs by calling an automated telephone number. At the reception, it is better to submit a written complaint about online scammers, which will be transferred to the appropriate department.
- By letter by Russian Post, sending a written request to the address: 129090, Moscow, st. Sadovaya-Sukharevskaya, building 11. Department “K” should be indicated as the addressee, and it is better to send it by letter with a notification to ensure that it has been delivered to the recipient. In the document compiled, it is important to indicate all the necessary details (web addresses) and any other available information (bank account number where the money was sent, electronic wallet, mobile phone, etc.) that will help identify the owners of the resource.
- Online through a special form on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation xn--b1aew.xn--p1ai/request_main, where you can indicate exactly to whom the complaint is addressed. The procedure for submitting such an appeal is not particularly different, so the user must accurately indicate his personal data, choose the method of receiving a response and describe as accurately as possible the circumstances that prompted him to seek protection of his rights. In the “Text of appeal” field, you must provide the address of the fraudulent site and any information that can be used to analyze the situation.
Important! A citizen can submit an appeal to his territorial division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, since in any case it will be transferred to the final recipient - to Department “K”.
You can find out the necessary information to file a complaint with the territorial authority on the website xn--b1aew.xn--p1ai/contacts/sites.
“Due to a glitch, you have been disconnected from the clinic”
The person receives a message that due to an error in the system, he has been disconnected from the clinic. To return the status of a patient, you need to submit an application and pay a state fee. This can be done on the supposed “State Services”, that is, on a website that is very similar to the official one.
The scheme is dangerous not even because the scammers will pay a “state duty.” They will receive a login and password from State Services, and with them access to personal data, the ability to apply for tax deductions, various payments and even loans with microloans.
How to protect your money
To calm down, it is enough to remember how the bureaucratic machine in the country actually works. If you are accidentally disconnected from the clinic, it is unlikely that anyone will care enough about this to inform you. You would just find out about it when you went to the doctor. And, of course, you don’t have to pay any state duty for joining a healthcare institution, it’s free.
Nevertheless, it is worth enabling two-factor authentication in your State Services account without waiting for a confrontation with scammers. Then, if the login and password fall into the hands of attackers, they still will not be able to use them.
Hosting company
If a citizen has enough knowledge to determine which hosting company supports the scam site, then he can try to get the resource closed by filing a claim with its customer support. This can be done through the feedback form, by email, or use any available contact to inform the provider about the illegal actions of his client to whom he provides his services (as a rule, such information can be obtained in the “About” section).
When drawing up a claim, it is important to succinctly describe what the violation of the law is (for credibility, you can even provide references to the norms of the current legislation of the Russian Federation) and provide relevant evidence (reviews of other victims, an extract from a card account about the transfer of funds, etc.).
Attention! Contacting a hosting company is relevant even if the user has encountered fraud on a foreign website, when the norms of Russian legislation cannot be applied.
