Russians have been warned about a new type of postcard scam in messengers

Fraudsters use gift-extended postcards and small-sized images to collect personal data of victims. This was reported on December 1 by Alla Khrapunova, an expert of the direction "Popular Front. Analytics" Alla Khrapunova.

"Many people exchange almost daily pictures - postcards with gift-extension. When clicked, the picture "comes to life" <...>. But there are known cases when fraudsters embed malicious code that is downloaded into the user's device when clicking on the picture," she said in a conversation with RIA Novosti.

According to her, the danger can also be posed by pictures of reduced size, which require magnification to recognize the picture on them. The analyst noted that this can redirect the user to a phishing site, which will be used to collect personal data.

Khrapunova reminded that you should not trust messages from unknown people, and warned of the need to be careful when receiving "non-standard messages" from acquaintances - attackers can hack into their accounts to send an attachment with a virus.

Chained together: Roskomnadzor tells about the most effective fraud schemes

Teenagers and retirees are often drawn into "covert operations"

Earlier, on November 29, VTB Senior Vice President and Head of Digital Business Department Nikita Chugunov warned Russians that the number of fraud cases with the installation of remote access programs - SpyMax virus via WhatsApp messenger (owned by Meta, whose activities are banned in Russia) has increased in Russia. According to him, attackers present themselves as employees of government or commercial organizations, call victims under the guise of payment verification and send a malicious link, thanks to clicking on which the fraudster obtains personal data.