What can scammers do if they take possession of your SNILS and passport data?
- They can transfer the funded part of your pension to another non-state pension fund.
- They will be able to draw up a loan agreement in your name, veiled as an agreement for the provision of insurance services (if you, without reading, also signed some papers as a plus).
In addition, scammers can take out loans from microfinance organizations, even without SNILS . Just according to passport data and TIN, the main thing is that the attackers have all the information from the first page, including a photo and signature.
Regulation of activities in the field of pension provision
The pension consists of an insurance and funded part . Insurance finances are always kept in the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, but savings funds are allowed to be transferred to a non-governmental organization.
Non-state pension funds are organizations that store money and charge interest on it every year. The operating scheme of such companies is similar to banking institutions.
There is no difference where savings are stored, but the legalization of non-state pension funds makes its own adjustments. Now a large number of companies are being created that do not inspire confidence among taxpayers. To transfer savings funds to such an organization, it is enough to provide your SNILS number, personal data and sign a special permission. That is why people have appeared who are trying to find out SNILS by any means.
Does SNILS give access to personal information and in particular to a person’s income?
Reference . Knowing the insurance certificate number, you cannot gain access to either the personal information or the income of the insured person. An exception may be the situation if you used your SNILS number as a login on a government services website.
Theoretically, an experienced hacker can gain access to your personal account in this case . The maximum that he can do there is to find out the amount of your pension contributions, from which you can calculate the amount of your basic income and use this information in some illegal actions.
But if you encounter a truly “serious” hacker (although this is unlikely, because these are very expensive specialists), he has many ways to obtain information about you, not counting SNILS.
Why is SNILS assigned?
To understand in what fraudulent schemes someone else’s insurance certificate (its number) can be used, let’s figure out what it is.
The abbreviation SNILS stands for insurance number of an individual personal account opened with the Pension Fund for the purpose of crediting pension contributions from the employer. Assigned to all Russian citizens immediately after birth. Foreign citizens who have received an official work permit in Russia must also have it.
The card itself with SNILS can be collected from the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation or from the employer (at the place of work). However, today, in many cases, minors also need a SNILS card: when going to medical institutions, in kindergarten and school. Therefore, it is not surprising to see an insurance certificate in the hands of children.
Attention: the SNILS number is unique and inimitable - it is assigned to a Russian citizen once. It is impossible to change it.
Fraud schemes
Why, then, are so many scammers hunting for insurance numbers? Why did almost every Russian encounter them in one way or another? It's simple: according to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, the future pension of citizens born in 1967 will consist of two parts: insurance and funded.
It is impossible for any scammers to encroach on the insurance part of the pension. But a person can invest the funded part of their pension . This can be done by entrusting the management of funds to a state management company or a non-state fund.
It is useless to report them to the police: they will tell you that they are agents of a non-state pension fund and there is nothing illegal in their actions. They are simply advertising their services.
But there are also scammers among them. Some of them ask for personal information only to cover up openly fraudulent schemes to extort real money. And due to the actions of “honest” agents, whose actions do not fall under any article, you are deprived of the investment income you are entitled to from investing the funded part of your future pension.
Let's look at the most popular fraud schemes using SNILS in real life and on the Internet.
"The most profitable NPF"
One of these tactics is based on the fact that the NPF takes care in advance of promoting its own or a fake website. And when the agent honestly reports which NPF he is advocating for making a choice, then you need to look for information on the Internet.
Using a search engine for a specific request, you can find a rating of pension funds in which the advertised one is at the top. And only after studying the sources in more detail, you can understand that the rating was compiled and promoted by a hired advertising agency . After large-scale customer acquisition, the “analytical” site is no longer supported.
What is the danger? Agents are silent that:
- You could choose a safer fund.
- Transfer funds from the funded part of the pension to public administration.
- Also, you will not be informed that you are losing investment income from funds invested in another NPF or from government administration, since 5 years have not yet passed since the start of your previous pension insurance contract.
Help : you can change your insurer annually, but you can change your insurer while maintaining the accumulated interest - once every five years.
"Recruitment agencies"
A person finds an advertisement for a job in a very broad specialty , for example, a manager, and calls the advertisement. He is invited for an interview. They say that you must have your passport and SNILS with you.
At the interview, he is told that this vacancy has already been filled, but a similar one will appear soon. To speed up the employment process, you need to fill out a questionnaire, an application (this turns out to be an application to transfer the funded part of the pension to a specific fund).
A copy of SNILS and passport is made from the unsuspecting applicant. After leaving the agency, the person waits for some time, calls himself, but is told that the vacancy has not appeared. But after a while, a letter arrives from the NPF thanking you for choosing the fund .
Naturally, if the fund turns out to be conscientious and quite profitable, then feeling deceived, the person who realized what had happened leaves it after a year. He is not informed that there was a loss of interest.
“Your bank cares about you”
Even banks do not hesitate to lure people into their pension fund . Many borrowers who took out a consumer loan or mortgage became their clients. Indeed, it is difficult to resist a polite, pretty girl or young man with whom a loan agreement has already been signed on what seem to be very favorable terms. Bank employees will convince you that by concluding such an agreement with the bank, you will ensure the best future for yourself.
They will tell you that their bank is the most reliable. He stands firmly on the ground. And you, receiving your pension in the future right in this window, will be able to receive income from your own pension investments. It will be easier for you to control the actions of the bank. They do not inform you that you are most likely losing your previous investment income.
Important! You can get into such processing not only at the bank, but also when buying equipment, furniture, a telephone, a car - with any purchase on credit.
A credit expert will tell you about all the benefits of investing in pensions through a bank, keeping silent, of course, about possible losses.
"Play"
Agents imitate representatives of government officials and even law enforcement agencies . Sometimes they present themselves as employees of the Pension Fund (without specifying that it is non-state). Cases are described when they crumple the abbreviation FPS (Pension Insurance Fund) to “PPS” and show their IDs in order to play on the law-abiding nature of citizens, to stop them and attract attention.
Then one of the many performances is performed. It is possible that tomorrow a new, not yet used type of fraud will be tested, how to convince citizens to give up their personal data in order to transfer their savings to the next NPF.
Which “performances” are already known:
- Agents ask if you received a letter from the Pension Fund this year?
You should have been told that if there is no application from you, your pension money will “burn out.” - No? Give me your SNILS, I'll check it against the database! Once they receive the number, they call the database operator to check whether you are currently in their fund as a result of the actions of your predecessors. Some threaten with a fine for failure to comply with the law. - The agent introduces himself as the “senior in the area” in matters of social/pension security or as an employee of the management company who monitors the implementation of the state program.
May pose as a financial advisor. He will very competently tell you about 6% of your deductions and why you need to manage them right now. Your losses in this case will be similar to the previous schemes. However, by signing an agreement with a fund that you are hearing about for the first time, you may transfer your money to an unscrupulous organization.
Having collected enough clients and received some income, such funds withdraw money abroad and go bankrupt.
Of course, according to current legislation, the funded part of your pension is insured. As a result, it will be paid by the Bank of Russia, however, without any interest that would otherwise be possible in a different scenario.
In addition to door-to-door visits, such people are looking for victims:
- for offices, shops, pharmacies;
- summer cottages in garden cooperatives;
- They wait for victims near clinics, metro stations, and shopping centers.
Attention : currently, people who have already chosen a non-state pension fund or left their savings in state management can receive investment income from investments only if they do not change the fund for 5 years. This deadline has not passed since 2015.
According to the Pension Fund, 99% of citizens who transferred their pensions to the management of another NPF in 2017 did so at a detriment to themselves.
Schemes on the Internet
"Employment"
In addition to fraud in real life, phone calls, “recruitment officers” can catch up with you on the Internet on employment sites .
During an interview over the Internet, “personnel services” may insist on filling out a false application form with a SNILS number.
Their goal is the same as in real life - to transfer pension savings to a non-state pension fund.
"State website"
Fraudsters can request SNILS along with other data in order to imitate a government service website on the Internet. Such sites can have several goals:
- collection of personal data for the transfer of the funded part of the pension;
- collection of personal data to form databases that can be sold.
"Payments"
A separate type of fraud is a site for paying for non-existent services to receive non-existent payments; You can be attracted to such a site with the help of an enticing banner or letter. You are asked to check whether you are entitled to certain payments from certain insurance funds .
Then they ask you to enter SNILS. After checking the data on the insurance number, the site provides information that you need to receive a substantial amount, about 100 thousand rubles. Then they will be asked to pay for the services of insurers, followed by other payments for data analysis services. Finally the man realizes that he is being deceived. Naturally, he does not receive any payments.
By studying the articles of our experts, you will be able to protect yourself and your loved ones from various types of fraud: corporate, financial, abuse of official position, involving a legal entity, in the areas of business, lending and computer information, as well as by telephone and other new schemes.
Important Tips
To avoid falling into the trap of scammers, you must remember:
- Pension Fund employees never go door to door and check SNILS numbers.
- Pension Fund employees do not stand at the metro station or walk around work offices.
- You are not entitled to any payments that you do not know about. In any case, do not trust one source.
To find out which fund your pension savings are currently in:
- you can make a request on the government services website;
- request information in person, by mail or using the online form on the Pension Fund website.
To find out the status of your pension account, you need to contact the Russian Pension Fund. But if you transferred your funds to a non-state pension fund, then it provides information about the status of your account.
How to protect your data and money from scammers
- Provide passport data only to trusted people and companies when it is simply impossible to conclude a deal without it (for example, when applying for a loan or a purchase and sale agreement).
- Check your credit history at least once every six months. It's free. You can also configure BKI to receive messages about any changes in your credit history. But this is a paid service, for example, at the United Credit Bureau (UCB) a monthly subscription costs 390 ₽, for a year - 790 ₽.
- If you make copies or scans of your passport, if possible write directly on them for which company or institution the copy was made. You can also cross out your signature on the copy.
- Don’t panic if they write or talk to you about blocking your account or some kind of write-off. Immediately interrupt the conversation and do not respond to SMS, but call the bank yourself at the number indicated on your card.
- If you suspect your telephone interlocutor of fraud, ask him to tell you your card number or balance.
- Read messages from the bank carefully so as not to miss any errors. If they exist, these are SMS from scammers.
- Never click on links from SMS messages or open files received from strangers on any device.
What to do if attackers got your SNILS number? Step-by-step instruction
- Calm down. If attackers have received your SNILS number, they will not be able to cause immediate damage. Even if an agreement is drawn up on your behalf to transfer savings to another NPF, fund employees will most likely call you to make sure that you really wrote such a statement.
- Just in case, change your login and password on the government services website.
- Then immediately contact your pension fund and write a written statement of your intention not to transfer the funded portion of your pension to any fund for a year.
- Submit a similar application to the Pension Fund by contacting them in person, by mail, through an online application or through the MFC. It is easier to cancel the transfer to an unscrupulous NPF while the funds have not yet been transferred.
If, as a result of unlawful actions, your funds were nevertheless transferred to a non-state fund, after five years you can transfer them to the state administration or to another fund while maintaining the accumulated interest. There is a procedure for early transfer of funds - the next year after writing the application. Investment income for this period, alas, will be lost.
Important . If you believe that the transfer was made unlawfully and want to return your savings to the previous fund in an accelerated manner along with interest, then you will have to defend this right in court.
Safety regulations
To prevent the insurance pension number from being at the disposal of fraudsters, citizens should take care to comply with certain security rules.
Thus, all interaction with the pension fund should be carried out exclusively in the branches of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, in the MFC or through the Gosuslugi portal. It should be remembered that its employees never conduct rounds of insured persons.
A universal rule is to carefully study each document before signing it , especially in cases where they contain confidential information related to personal data.
In general, it should be remembered that SNILS, passport data and other similar information should not be provided to third parties unless there is a legal need.
In recent years, various scammers are increasingly trying to fraudulently obtain the insurance number of a personal account with the Pension Fund of Russia. Despite the fact that significant attacks on citizens’ property cannot be expected in this case, illegal schemes invented by fraudsters can significantly affect the implementation of their pension rights in the future. In this regard, it is highly recommended not to transfer information about SNILS and other confidential data to third parties.
