The most dangerous fraud schemes are named

In January, the number of fraudulent schemes related to phishing and offers to earn money on the Internet increased by 50% compared to December 2024, according to VTB's data, which were reviewed by Izvestia on February 13.

According to the credit organization, one of the most noticeable trends was the expansion of phishing schemes. At the beginning of 2025, Russians more often encountered fake online stores that offer goods at a favorable price and accompany the transaction with formal details - send fake order numbers, contracts of offer and other supporting documents. After payment, the fraudsters stop contacting and the site is deleted.

In addition, attackers actively use schemes with delivery payment. The client receives a link to pay through supposedly official services, which are actually fake. After a person enters the card details, money is stolen from him.

Fraudsters deceive Russians in the virtual world. What you need to know

The number of cases with automatic subscriptions has increased. The user follows a link to a website with "free trial access" to educational courses, analytics or entertainment. After entering payment data, automatic debits are activated.

The bank also specified that the number of false online earning schemes has increased by 50%. One of the most common is fake investments. Russians are offered to invest savings in "promising assets", promising high income, but after the transfer of money access to the platform is blocked.

Fraud with the promotion of goods on marketplaces has also been recorded. Victims are offered paid work for leaving likes, reviews and booking hotels. After several completed tasks, the scammers demand an advance payment or the purchase of "access to the platform", after which they disappear.

In addition, there were employment scams, when a person was offered a vacancy, but was asked to install a special application to get to work. It turned out to be malware that gives attackers full access to the device and banking data.

Earlier, on December 19, 2024, the Coordination Center for .RU/.RF domains told Izvestia that fraudsters' attacks on Telegram users have increased 19 times. In November-December, their number amounted to more than a thousand, while in the same period of 2023, only 54 cases were recorded. Attackers use a variety of schemes to hack into users' accounts: fake social payments for holidays, New Year sales, cheap tickets to Christmas trees, concerts and performances.