Crimeans lost more than 20 million rubles in a week — they gave it to scammers

Schemes used by cyber fraudsters over the past week:

• fake calls/calls in instant messengers, criminals pose as employees of banks, law enforcement agencies, or even relatives of the victim, trying to find out personal information or force them to transfer money;

• luring money through social networks: attackers create fake accounts of familiar users, asking for help in the form of money transfers;

• investment in company shares: scammers offer potential investors to invest money in shares of some promising company, claiming that the value of the shares will soon increase sharply. Typically, such investments promise high returns with minimal risks;

• installing third-party applications and following links.

Calls from scammers

The Simferopol police received a message from an 18-year-old local resident who became a victim of remote fraud. The young man explained that he received a call from an unknown person who introduced himself as a law enforcement officer. The caller reported that the applicant was allegedly suspected of financing an organization banned in the Russian Federation and was facing criminal liability. Frightened, the victim withdrew funds from his parents’ accounts in the amount of 990 thousand rubles and listed them using the details dictated by the attacker. Only after some time the young man realized that he had become a victim of scammers and contacted the police.

A local resident contacted the Yalta police to report fraud. The victim said that they called her from an unknown number and introduced themselves as an order manager named Ksenia Sergeevna. Under the pretext of receiving a package for the applicant’s birthday, the attacker asked for the code from the SMS for confirmation. The woman, not suspecting deception, reported a combination of numbers, after which the money was debited from her bank account 180 thousand rubles.

Fraudsters operate through websites, social networks and instant messengers

A resident of Simferopol lost more than 1 million rubleshaving become a victim of a scammer who contacted her through one of the popular instant messengers. The swindler introduced himself as an employee of the Central Bank and informed the woman about allegedly recorded suspicious activity in her bank account, claiming that her savings were at risk. Guided by the recommendations of the false specialist, the victim transferred the funds to the “safe account” specified by the criminal.

A similar incident occurred with a resident of Kerch. In this case, the scammer posed as a law enforcement officer. Fearing losing money, the man followed the attacker’s instructions and transferred money to the so-called “safe account”. more than 3.6 million rubles

Fraudsters force you to install third-party applications and send malicious links

On one of the social networks, a resident of Simferopol met a girl named Alena, who suggested going to the theater for the first date. To purchase tickets, a new friend sent me a link to the online ticket office. Suspecting nothing, the young man followed the link and entered his bank card details — the gentleman’s account was debited about 6 thousand rubles Later it turned out that the link led to a phishing site, and the girl turned out to be a scammer.

How to protect yourself from such threats?

To avoid such troubles, it is important to follow a few simple rules:

1. Never share your personal information with strangers, especially card numbers, verification codes and passwords.

2. Check the reliability of online resources before making online purchases.

3. Be careful with suspicious emails and messages containing links or downloads.

4. Don’t believe in “safe accounts” – IT’S A SCAM!

5. Don’t panic – real law enforcement officials and banks do not require money transfers.

If you have become a victim of scammers, immediately report it to the police using the single number 102 or submit a written statement to any nearest police station.

source: press service of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in Crimea