Russians have been warned about an increase in fraud activity during the holidays

In 2024, during the New Year holidays and on the eve of the gender holidays, about 17 thousand phishing domains per month were recorded. This year, the detection rate in January exceeded the mark of 30 thousand domains. The most common resources imitating investment projects and financial organizations are marketplaces, and during the holiday season, websites with non-existent sweepstakes and promotions were added to them, experts noted.

As the operator explained, investment and financial simulation resources account for approximately 60% of the total share. They usually disguise themselves as the branding of large corporations, inform them about the possibility of receiving a payment on the occasion of a holiday or investing money profitably. For this, the user must register and provide their payment card details. In second place are sites masquerading as marketplaces and large online brand stores: only about 10%. They offer to take part in a non-existent raffle or receive bonuses and discounts on goods in honor of the holiday.

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Intruders steal money under the guise of generous promotions for a traditional holiday

The attackers use the information they receive to put pressure on the user, gain access to money and confidential information. At the same time, scammers adapt to the holidays — Defender of the Fatherland Day and International Women's Day.

The number of fraudulent resources aimed at stealing accounts of messengers and social networks is also growing. According to experts, this trend is not related to the holiday season, but the dynamics of its development is slightly higher than the overall growth rates of phishing. Previously, about 1,000 such domains were detected per day, but now this figure exceeds 2.5 thousand sites.

On such resources, attackers are encouraged to log in using a messenger or social media in order to participate in voting, promotions, or for security purposes, to verify an account. There are also websites that mimic official access or permission verification services, such as "Online Entry Ban Check" and "Office for Migration". The user is asked to enter the phone number and the SMS code that comes in the messenger. This code is used by scammers to access the victim's account.

Account hijacking is the first stage of a fraudulent scheme. Subsequently, the accounts can be used to scam the contact list, spread spam, access closed communities, confidential data and funds of the victim.

Experts advised that to protect yourself from phishing, you need to add frequently used official resources to your browser bookmarks or download official applications and install antivirus software. You should also install two-factor authentication in those services where possible. In the future, you should not ignore the warnings of the operator or security applications when accessing potentially dangerous pages, and do not enter a confirmation code if you are not sure of the legitimacy of the resource. It is also worth checking the information in official sources.

Earlier, on February 27, it was reported that online scammers before the Oscar ceremony became href="https://iz.ru/1845887/2025-02-27/moshenniki-pridumali-novye-skhemy-obmana-kinomanov-na-fone-premii-oskar " target="_blank">create scam resources to steal data and money from moviegoers. According to Kaspersky Lab, in order to watch films nominated for the prestigious award for free this year, attackers ask potential victims to perform certain actions, as a result of which scammers can find out payment details.