Bad marks: how scammers cheat Russians through schemes with likes
Scammers deceive Russians by offering them money for likes. Such a part-time job can result in the loss of a messenger account, money and valuable data. "Izvestia" found out how such schemes work and how to protect yourself from them.
Payment for likes
Fraudsters have become more often use schemes in which they offer Russians to pay for likes. Dmitry Ovchinnikov, head of the laboratory of strategic development of cybersecurity products of the analytical center of cybersecurity "Gazinformservice" told "Izvestia" about it.
- The scheme works as follows: fraudsters place an ad about earning money on the Internet. All that is required from the user is to put a like on the site (for example, marketplace), leave a review, watch commercials. The task is simple, but the payment is quite attractive for [potential] victims, " Ovchinnikov said.
Further, according to him, fraudsters can have several variants of deception. In the first one, after completing the task, they ask to provide the payment details of the card to be credited. Naturally, the victim will not receive any money, but will only lose it.
- In the second one, after the money is credited, the scammers may ask for the phone number and SMS code to confirm the identity. Similarly, criminals can steal a Telegram account," says the Izvestia expert.
In the third scenario, fraudsters send a link to a fake website where you have to enter payment data from your card. At the same time, the expert adds, there are also more complicated schemes, when the victim is actually made small charges, but then they can start swindling out large sums.
Not to fall for the scammer's bait is quite simple: a real employer will pay for simple work at market value. The offer of easy and quick income should make a person suspicious.
Work on bookings
As the head of the ONF project "For the Rights of Borrowers", coordinator of the platform "Moshelovka" Evgenia Lazareva tells "Izvestia", experts call such schemes work on bookings. In its classic version, users of messengers, social networks, and sometimes specialized job search sites are offered remote work with high income with minimal effort and without any experience.
- Involving the victim, attackers include it in Telegram-chat and give first simple tasks - to like hotels, resorts, campgrounds on booking sites. For each assessment they really pay, and at prices above market rates," says the expert.
At the second stage, the victim is offered to directly engage in booking rooms and tours. At her own expense, but not directly, but through a manager - to transfer large sums to specified accounts or phone numbers.
- Fraudsters convince her that now the victim invests, and after a certain period of time, when the reservation will be resold for a higher price, all the money will be returned. As a fee they promise 15-50% of the invested money. The higher the investment, the bigger the bonus," explains Evgenia Lazareva.
If the scammers are successful, the third stage comes: the victim is told that it is necessary to pay income tax and a specific amount is named. If the person agrees, the fraudsters simply take the money. And if he starts to doubt, demanding first to pay for the work and return the money, he is removed from all chat rooms and blocked.
According to Lazareva, usually, to avoid blocking the victim's transfers (in accordance with Article 9 of the Federal Law-161), the tasks suggest making transfers to different accounts and phone numbers - and do it not from one account, but using cards from two or three banks. Sometimes the attackers themselves warn the victim that the bank may consider the operation suspicious and call with questions. In this case, victims are instructed to confirm to the bank the transfer order.
Methods of protection
To protect yourself from fraudsters, Izvestia experts recommend not to agree to dubious offers on the Internet. Do not disclose any personal data, especially passport and payment data, do not follow dubious links and do not transfer money to strangers.
- If you make a transfer, and the bank suspends the operation - this is a reason to wonder if fraudsters will receive it. In this situation, it is better to call the bank and block the transaction. And report the attempted fraud, " says Evgenia Lazareva.
If the transfer has already been made and the transaction has been carried out, you should call the bank's hotline as soon as possible, tell in detail about what happened and file an application for compensation of funds, in accordance with Article 9 of the Federal Law-161 - the operators will tell you how to do it. After that, you should immediately go to the nearest police station (but not to the district police officer), or better - to the territorial branch of the Department for Combating Cybercrime of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with a statement. After the application is officially registered, it is worth remembering to get a ticket about it: it will help to track the progress of the case. You can duplicate your application to the electronic reception on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.
- It is also necessary to write an appeal to the electronic reception desk of the Financial Consumer Protection Service of the Bank of Russia, indicating all phone numbers and accounts to which money was transferred. This information will be analyzed and transferred to the Bank of Russia's FinCERT Automated Incident Processing System, and the accounts of the droppers will be included in a special database," says Evgenia Lazareva.
Lazareva advises to collect as much information as possible: make screen copies of all correspondence in all chats with fraudsters, save their nicknames in Telegram (or cards of their contacts, write out in a separate table all transactions with dates, times, amounts, from which to which account there was a transfer, whether there were warnings from the bank on operations and what exactly).
- If the bank refuses compensation, ask for an explanation of the reasons, consult a lawyer and file a lawsuit in court. There is positive law enforcement with decisions in favor of the victims, - concludes the coordinator of "Moshelovka".
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