Russians named ways to protect accounts from online fraudsters

In 2024, 66% of the surveyed Russians have experienced attempts by fraudsters to steal their accounts on various sites on the Web. This is stated in the results of a survey of the social network Odnoklassniki and the service "Work.ru," which were reported by Izvestia on February 17. Respondents also told how they protect their accounts from attackers.

Social networks account for the most attacks (62%). Banking applications are in second place, and messengers are in third place. Also, scammers often try to steal data from personal and work e-mail.

The majority of respondents (63%), being familiar with the rules of cybersecurity, were able to immediately recognize fraud and prevent the hacking of their account. Thus, according to Odnoklassniki, the share of social network users who encountered spam or interacted with an attacker's profile decreased by 42% last year compared to 2023.

According to the study, almost half of the respondents who encountered fraudsters on the Web admitted that they did not use two-factor authentication, as a result of which their accounts were at risk. Another 23% clicked on a phishing link on their own and were threatened by attackers.

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Talking about what they do to protect their data, 78% of respondents said they don't click on links they find strange and don't share their codes with anyone, while 43% use complex passwords. 42% of respondents make purchases only on trusted websites, 14% frequently change passwords in all their accounts, and 10% of the survey participants use a special password manager.

Experts emphasized that hacking of social media accounts most often occurs due to the use of identical logins and passwords on different platforms, which allows attackers who have received data from one hacked resource to open access to other accounts. Phishing attacks play a significant role, when fraudsters create fake sites or send false messages on behalf of trusted organizations to trick users into obtaining personal data. In addition, many users set weak and easily guessable passwords that leave accounts vulnerable to attack.

On January 29, it was reported that spammers in 2024 were most often engaged in phishing - a type of Internet fraud aimed at gaining access to confidential user data - logins and passwords - follows from the data of the Yandex 360 platform. Phishing is often a mass mailing of emails on behalf of popular brands, as well as personal messages within various services, for example, on behalf of banks or social networks.