Ministry of Internal Affairs: Fraudsters can collect personal data through QR codes with «profitable promotions»

Krympress reports:

Attackers through fake QR codes, supposedly leading to sites with “profitable promotions”, collect personal data of Russians or send spam, TASS reported in the press center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in response to the corresponding request of the agency.

The fraudster creates a QR code, as if leading to a website with a profitable promotion, but in fact it is a fitting or collecting personal data, the ministry press center said.

Such a action may be called — “Get 5,000 rubles — explained to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Its key goal is to collect personal data, spam or fraud. In addition, fraudsters post ads like “Scan the QR code and get a prize!”

After scanning such a QR code, a redirection is carried out to the site with a request to indicate the data of the card or confirm the “processing of personal data,” the Ministry of Internal Affairs said.

They clarified that in fact, the theft of personal data or a subscription to paid services is carried out in this way.

Through phishing mailings, scammers most often seek to collect personal data, including bank card numbers, passport information, phone numbers, email addresses and passwords from various online services, explains the State Duma deputy, member of the Inform Policy Committee, federal coordinator of the Digital Russia party project Anton Nemkin.

Subsequently, the collected information allows for unauthorized financial transactions, steal accounts in instant messengers and social networks, and in the most dangerous scenarios — directly steal the user’s money, as well as draw up loans in his name— he explained.

As a rule, phishing scenarios of deception always use bright slogans or tempting promises, the deputy notes.

Fraudsters expect that a person who is passionate about a possible benefit will not carefully check the authenticity of the source and enter his data on a fake site. So in many cases it happens. Often such messages cause a sense of urgency or exclusivity of the sentence, which reduces user vigilance and pushes them to hasty actions, the deputy explained.

Mass data leaks as a result of such phishing and fraudulent schemes are not uncommon, Nemkin notes. “Their consequences for the victims can be very serious: financial losses, loss of control over personal accounts, difficulties with the restoration of documents and long legal problems. In addition, stolen data are often resold by the darknet, which expands the scale of harm and complicates protection against further attacks— he notes.

To protect your data, it is important to show vigilance: not to follow suspicious links, not to enter personal information on unverified sites and always check the authenticity of messages and notifications through official channels, Nemkin advises.

It is recommended to use complex passwords, two -factor authentication and antivirus programs, as well as regularly update the software to minimize the risks of leakage and theft of data— Nemkin emphasized.

Source: press service of the State Duma deputy Anton Nemkina

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