Fraudsters work seven days a week. Thus, according to Telephone fraud: scale and losses / VTsIOM VTsIOM, in the first half of 2021, 57% of Russians received calls from attackers.
Naturally, such mass events cannot go unnoticed. The media are writing about scammers’ schemes, police warn. Therefore, criminals come up with more and more new scenarios for their victims. Ironically, many of the ideas are based precisely on the fact that people are aware of the prevalence of the problem and are afraid for their money. Here are some of the popular ways to swindle your savings right now.
“They are trying to take out a loan from you”
The phrase “security service” acts like a red rag to many. Therefore, scammers work more carefully. The potential victim receives a call from an alleged account manager or other similar specialist. He says that he is contacting you about your loan application, which was submitted on the website.
The scammer hopes that the interlocutor will be indignant: he did not apply for any loan. After which the false manager will report that all the victim’s data was entered - who did she transfer it to? Then they will start to intimidate that someone will get the money and put a debt on the person. And then he will offer to protect the valuables: transfer them to a “special account” or withdraw the borrowed money yourself and, again, send them using supposedly special bank details.
If the victim buys into the scam, he will lose his money, or even take out a loan to transfer funds to the scammer. Because, of course, there are no special accounts and banks never offer anything like this to their clients. Another option is that the false manager will be able to lure out data that will allow him to connect the victim’s mobile bank. And then he will be able to apply for a loan and steal savings.
How to protect your money
It’s easy to fall for such a scheme: it’s scary that someone will put a debt on you. Moreover, the “manager” is in a hurry and does not allow you to think. In a calm environment, it’s easier to guess that one application on any website is not enough to apply for a loan. The borrower must confirm his intention with a signature - regular or electronic. And to do this, you need to come to the branch in person or submit an application through your personal account or mobile bank on the website.
In addition, it is not clear why the “manager” is sure that someone entered your data on the site - especially if you are not a client of this bank.
In general, if you are asked if you have applied for a loan, answer “no” and hang up. If after this you feel anxious - and this is logical, it’s still about money - call or write to your bank. Let them confirm that you have no debts.
How to write an application? Step-by-step instruction
There are no clear requirements for the content of the application ; it is written in free form. But there is a certain structure that must be followed in order for the document to be accepted by the authorized bodies. The application must include:
- “Hat” is the full name of the body (prosecutor’s office, court) where you are submitting the application. If this is a police department, then the application is written to the head, indicating his position. This is where you fill in your passport details and contact information.
- A clear and consistent statement of events that the complainant attributes to fraud. In this part, it is necessary to identify all the persons involved in the case, list the facts, indicating the time and place. Avoid speculation and false information, do not write about your personal attitude towards the criminal and his actions, state your thoughts briefly. Ideally, the document should not occupy more than one A4 sheet.
- When contacting the prosecutor's office, indicate that you do not agree with the actions of the police or ask for an investigation into the fact of the inaction of the investigation.
- Indication of all the data known to you: website address, attacker’s name (even if it’s not real) or nickname, card or e-wallet details, e-mail, phone number, etc.
- References to legislation (Article 159 of the Criminal Code) and other norms relevant in this case. If you are not sure, it is better to limit yourself to general phrases (“Please check”).
- Date, signature of the applicant.
- Appendix – documents explaining the situation.
Do not forget that in an official document you need to maintain a business style of speech, avoid curses and grammatical errors . The application can be written either by hand or typed on a computer and printed, but the signature and date must be filled out in the victim’s own hand.
What can serve as evidence?
Crimes committed on the Internet have their own specifics, but evidence is important here too. Any information about the criminal can form the basis of a check and significantly help the investigation.
- Receipts for payment.
- Statement of your bank account.
- Printing of correspondence and e-mail messages.
- Screenshots of correspondence on social networks.
- Documents received from the swindler, contracts.
- Details of calls and messages by your phone number.
- Photos, videos, hand-made recordings of telephone conversations.
- Any other evidence of interaction with Internet criminals.
What will happen next?
When filing a fraud report, do not forget to take a tear-off coupon with the date, time and reference number (KUSP No.).
Important: the law obliges police officers to accept your application; they have no right to refuse.
The response should arrive by mail within 3-10 days. Based on your appeal, a decision will be made: either to initiate a criminal case, or to refuse to initiate it in the manner provided for in Art. 144, 145, 148 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. In case of refusal, you have the right to appeal it to the prosecutor's office. It takes from 3 to 10 days to consider the complaint.
If a police officer behaves inappropriately with you (is rude, uses obscene language, ignores questions, persuades you to withdraw your statement), you have the right to contact the head of this police agency. He is obliged to conduct an internal inspection and bring the police officer who committed violations to disciplinary liability.
For the Economic Security Department, the maximum period for considering applications is 30 days. But due to the large number of violations in the market sphere and the relative difficulty of disclosing them, the Department for Economic Crimes often does not have time to conduct an inspection within the prescribed period. As a result, a so-called “technical refusal” is issued. In this case, you can achieve justice in the prosecutor's office, but time will be lost.
The investigation process itself can drag on for a long time, with the case being redirected from one department to another , with requests to websites, to the bank, and waiting for answers. It is not always easy to find the recipient of the funds, because... Fraudsters can use anonymous domains and wallets registered with someone else’s data.
"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.
“Scammers just called you”
There's a multi-way here. First, the potential victim receives a call from an obvious scammer who is easy to ignore. And then a bank employee or police officer contacts her. He says that he recorded the intruder's call, and this needs to be dealt with. During the process, he will ask you to provide card details, or transfer money to special accounts, or apply for a loan - options are possible.
How to protect your money
Unless you are a character from the series “Trace,” which is known for its fantasies about high-tech law enforcement, the situation described is unlikely. Let's say an operative eavesdropped on your conversation (which in itself is much more suspicious than a call from an attacker) and spotted a potential criminal. But he didn’t steal anything from you - how can you be useful to the investigation? The scheme does not stand up to the test of reality, just hang up and forget about it.
“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.
“We’ll help you get paid”
The pandemic overlapped with the pre-election period. That’s why the authorities constantly announced some kind of payments. They gave money either to pensioners or to parents of schoolchildren. Naturally, scammers did not miss this chance, and sites appeared on the Internet that offer assistance in processing payments. Some of them are disguised as pages of real-life banks. To receive money, you only need to enter your bank card details, including the code on the back. True, the funds will not be credited, but written off from her.
How to protect your money
If the payment is not calculated automatically and you need to submit an application to receive it, this is still done on the official website. For example, payments for children were processed through State Services. This is not difficult, and now departments post clear instructions on how to act. That is, there is no need to go to an incomprehensible resource and enter card details there.
And one more thing: the code on the back of the card is needed to write off money. Her number is enough for enrollment. So demanding extra information is always a reason for suspicion.
Deception on social networks: VKontakte, Facebook, Odnoklassniki
Social networks have become an inextricable part of the Internet and everyday life. They provide not only communication options, but also business options. Bank accounts of the user are linked to personal pages on social networks, who can make cashless purchases.
However, social networks provide unlimited opportunities for online fraud. They allow the scammer to interact with hundreds of thousands of users at the same time.
Popular types of fraud include fundraising for the treatment of seriously ill people. Groups appear on social networks to support the patient, and invoices are issued to transfer financial assistance. The Internet does not allow one to reliably verify the documents of a patient in need of help, so charity is based solely on the user’s trust. Thus, in the case of fraud, the criminal, without much effort, enriches himself within a short period of time at the expense of users imbued with misfortune, and then spends the collected funds at his own discretion.
Inexperienced users of social networks often fall for deception and have their profiles blocked by the administration. A letter is sent to the mail demanding payment for the possibility of further use of the account. Attackers can also send calls to social networks to download this or that program under reasonable pretexts. In fact, it is a virus or other malware.
Fraud is particularly vile when the criminal introduces himself as a friend of a relative of the user and reports about an incident and the need for financial assistance. Users do not always check the information received and, in a panic attack, transfer money to the attacker to help a loved one.
Every user of social networks can become a victim of fraud, but this does not mean the need to completely abandon their use.
“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.
Which article provides for liability for online fraud?
When committing fraud on the Internet, the article of law under which the perpetrator will be held liable depends on the value of the stolen property and the circumstances of the theft.
If the value of the stolen property is no more than 2,500 thousand rubles, then the fraudster is subject to administrative liability under Art. 7.27 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. As punishment, this provision provides for a fine, arrest for up to 15 days or compulsory labor.
If fraud on the Internet is committed in an amount of more than 2,500 thousand rubles, then it is criminally punishable. The qualification of the crime, that is, the specific norm of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation depends on the method of fraud. So, if there was interference in the functioning of means of storing and processing information (for example, hacking of accounts on social networks), we will talk about fraudulent actions in the field of computer information - this is Art. 159.6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The maximum punishment for such acts is arrest for a period of 4 months. If there are aggravating circumstances (committing fraud by a group of persons, theft on a large or especially large scale, etc.), then the perpetrator may be imprisoned for up to 10 years.
In all other situations, the crime is qualified according to the general norm, that is, under Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The limits of punishment under it are the same as under Art. 159.6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
If the attacker demanded that money be transferred to him, threatening to disseminate confidential information (for example, photographs), then his actions are not fraud, but extortion - and this is already Art. 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Depending on the specific circumstances, in addition to liability for theft, fraudsters may also be punished for a crime in the field of computer information (Articles 272–274 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), that is, for unauthorized access to information, the spread of viruses, violation of the rules for operating computers or information networks .
