Lawyer told about a new method of fraud with SNILS

The insurance number of a citizen's individual personal account (SNILS) is not just a set of numbers, but a way to find out important personal and financial information. It contains data on the insurance record, pension coefficients and accrued insurance contributions for the entire period of labor activity, which is why this number is of such interest to fraudsters. This was reported to the agency "Prime" by lawyer Yaroslav Zemskov on February 24.

Attackers use different ways to take possession of SNILS. One of the relatively new methods is fake vacancies. Criminals publish advertisements for employment, and then, under the pretext of registration, require the number of the insurance account.

Identity theft via phishing sites is a common method among fraudsters. Attackers may also call on behalf of the Social Fund, offering to "index" payments or return "lost" pension money. The danger also lies in social networks, where criminals pretending to be acquaintances lure out the necessary information. In addition, data often fall into their hands through leaks from various databases.

It is noted that fraudsters can use the SNILS number to make fictitious social payments, take out loans in the victim's name, obtain medical services at someone else's expense or sell information on the darknet. In some cases, the insurance number is used for identity substitution - for example, to hide from responsibility for crimes.

According to Zemskov, two reasons make people the most vulnerable: careless attitude to personal data and the risks of digital interaction with government services.

The lawyer noted that the main way to protect against data leakage will be not to disclose your data to outsiders and to be attentive to suspicious offers. In addition, it is useful to regularly check your credit history and data in state registries to notice suspicious transactions in time.

The young and the marginalized: How scammers lure teens into crime

Children are often made into couriers and droppers

Earlier, on February 15, the dean of the Faculty of Law of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Professor Vadim Vinogradov said that attackers can use the data SNILS to take a loan on the victim. The expert noted that the bank may refuse to issue funds to fraudsters, but in this case they can apply for a loan in some microfinance organization.