IT expert names ways to protect against fake receipts for housing and utility services

Fake receipts for housing and communal services (HCS) are becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish from the real ones - fraudsters forge logos, details and even the style of management companies, said on Wednesday, February 5, information security expert, deputy general director of Staffcop Yuri Drachenin. He also named ways to protect oneself from attackers.

According to the IT expert, the danger of the ruse is that victims not only lose money, but also transfer personal data, and sometimes even download malicious software on the phone.

Drachenin advised against spontaneous scanning of QR codes from paper receipts to protect oneself. He noted that it is safer to pay bills through the official applications of the management company, the "GIS Housing and Utilities" service or through pre-created templates in the mobile bank.

"If fraudsters do send a fake receipt, it can be used against them. The document indicates the settlement account where the money goes - this is a starting point for the police, which can trace the chain of transfers. It is also important to report the forgery to the management company, so that it can warn other tenants, and to the bank, which in some cases can block the transfer," he told Lenta.Ru.

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Earlier, on February 3, a member of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications Anton Nemkin warned that in recent months there has been an increase in cases of fraud with fake receipts for housing and communal services, reports IA Regnum.

According to him, fake receipts do not differ in appearance from the real ones, as reported on the website kp.ru. Attackers expect that a citizen, having received such a "payment document," will automatically pay the debt by means of a QR code without checking the details.

On February 2, the department for organizing the fight against illegal use of information and communication technologies (UBK) of the Russian Interior Ministry warned that fraudsters began to use phishing attacks on behalf of the Ozon marketplace to gain access to citizens' data.