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- Military trickery: what tricks to expect from scammers on February 23rd
Military trickery: what tricks to expect from scammers on February 23rd
Fraudsters may become more active on the eve of Fatherland Defender's Day, which is traditionally celebrated on February 23, experts have warned. Experts expect that attackers will use the patriotic theme of the holiday and the increased demand for gifts to manipulate people's feelings. Details on what tricks to expect from fraudsters before the Day of the Defender of the Fatherland in 2025, read in the material "Izvestia".
What Defender of the Fatherland Day is interesting to scammers
Defender of the Fatherland Day, which is annually celebrated in Russia on February 23, is associated with mass purchases, promotions and discounts, which creates a convenient environment for fraudsters. According to Nikita Leokumovich, head of digital forensics and cyber intelligence at Angara SOC, in the run-up to the holiday people are more likely to make spontaneous purchases, click on advertising links and hurry to place orders, which reduces their attentiveness. Against this background, various fake offers look especially plausible.
- The patriotic theme of the holiday can also be used to manipulate people's feelings, for example, collecting donations to "support veterans" or "help the military", - says Marina Probets, Internet analyst and expert of the company "Gazinformservice". - During the holidays, people are more prone to impulsive purchases and less attentive to details, which makes them more vulnerable to fraud.
First of all, the activity of swindlers is aimed at those who plan to give gifts on Defender of the Fatherland Day - the female sex, adds Natalia Lylova, a researcher at the cybersecurity center of the Neimark IT Campus. Women are more prone to impulsive purchases, especially on promotions or special offers. This is what criminals use, offering to buy goods at a favorable price in a limited period of time, says the expert.
What schemes before February 23rd have already been used by fraudsters
In previous years, before February 23rd, phishing emails were widely used with the offer to buy gifts at a reduced price, says Nikita Leokumovich. In particular, in 2024, Russians were massively sent phishing emails and messages in messengers about sales on marketplaces dedicated to the holiday.
-The letters informed that the user was sent a promo code from an online store, which can be obtained by clicking on a link," Natalia Lylova told Izvestia. - A marketplace-style web page would open, prompting users to enter personal, payment and other sensitive information to receive the promo code.
Some holiday mailings could also contain a promo code in an attachment, after opening which malware was installed on the victim's device, the expert adds. Sometimes there were entire fake online stores, where customers lost money by paying for non-existent goods, as well as schemes with "favorable" drawings, where you had to enter card details to get the prize.
- The substitution of contact details of stores or delivery services was also popular, when fraudsters posed as their employees and tricked out payment details," says Nikita Leokumovich.
Marina Probets adds that before February 23rd, there were also false promotions and discounts, requiring prepayment, which eventually disappeared with the "seller". In addition, the attackers launched fake charity fundraisers allegedly to help veterans or military personnel or used schemes to sell tickets to non-existent holiday events.
What schemes of fraudsters before February 23 to wait for in 2025
Before February 23rd in 2025 QR codes can be more actively applied, says in conversation with "Izvestia" GR-director of the IS-company "Security Code" Alexandra Shmigirilova. It is not excluded that attackers will use them in advertising mailings, and such codes will lead to a fake payment form or a fake site of a store or restaurant.
- We should also expect more active use of malicious picture postcards with greetings," says the expert. - Opening such a picture can start installing a malicious program that will give fraudsters access to various applications, including banking.
In turn, Nikita Leokumovich predicts the active use of artificial intelligence (AI) for personalized attacks: for example, it can be more realistic messages from "banks" or "stores". With the help of neural networks, attackers will be able to generate messages that take into account the interests and preferences of a particular victim, notes Marina Probets.
According to the expert, fraudsters can also exploit topics related to the current geopolitical situation, for example, offering "help for refugees" or "support for military operations." Schemes involving fake NFTs or cryptocurrencies allegedly dedicated to the holiday are not excluded, as well as an increase in the number of attacks via hacked marketplaces and discount aggregators.
- In 2025, in addition to the already known schemes, scammers for February 23 may more actively use dipfake technologies to create fake video messages on behalf of famous personalities or military, calling for donations or participation in dubious actions, - says Marina Probets.
In turn, Olga Svistunova, Senior Content Analyst at Kaspersky Lab, points out that fraudsters seeking to swindle money and confidential user data on the eve of Defender of the Fatherland Day can mimic popular brands, offer to participate in any promotions, accept a gift, vote for someone in a contest, and so on.
How to protect yourself from fraud schemes before February 23rd
Attackers' tricks are aimed at a wide range of people, including those who are looking for gifts for men, are interested in military topics or are ready to provide financial support to veterans and servicemen, says Marina Probets. At the same time, the danger of such methods is the loss of money and theft of personal data, which can be used for further fraudulent actions.
- Another risk is psychological damage, especially for those who have fallen victim to deception related to patriotic feelings," says the Izvestia interlocutor. - In addition, successful attacks can undermine trust in charitable organizations and online stores that operate honestly.
In order to protect yourself from fraudulent attacks before February 23, Alexandra Shmigirilova advises to follow the basic rules of cyber hygiene. Before making a purchase or booking anything on the Web, do your due diligence - including reading reviews of the seller and comparing prices on different sites. Remember that you should make purchases only on trusted resources: in large marketplaces and online stores through specialized applications from Rustore, App Store and Google Play.
In addition, as the expert notes, it is important for the user to always check whether he is really on the site to which he went. Suspicion can be aroused by an excessive amount of requested data, demands to download an additional file or software. Especially carefully check the resource is necessary if it is not a large online store.
- Do not follow links sent from unknown sources," recommends Alexandra Shmigirilova. - You should also be extremely attentive to links from friends, always answering the question: how typical is this style of communication for this user.
Finally, to protect yourself from fraudsters, it will be useful to have a separate bank card for purchases and keep a minimum amount of money on it: this way you can minimize the damage in case of a successful attack of intruders. Also, install security features on your devices that will prevent you from going to suspicious sites and will prompt you about their danger in time, the expert concludes.
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