Fraudsters have become more likely to deceive Russians when buying real estate

Starting from March 2025, the attackers began to use schemes with offers for allegedly profitable housing purchases more often. The specialists of the Informzashita holding warned about this on Friday, March 14.

They clarified in an interview with Lenta.Ru From March 1 to March 12, such incidents were recorded by 20-25% more than in the whole of February, as well as about 15-18% more than in the same period in 2024. Experts noted that fraudsters are becoming more active on the eve of the seasonal peak in home sales and against the background of an increase in average real estate prices by 6-10% and play on citizens' fatigue from the expectation of a reduction in mortgage rates.

The attackers use several basic schemes. Firstly, citizens are offered to purchase high-class housing at a reduced price, but they are required to transfer a certain amount for booking an offer, after which the "realtor" disappears. Secondly, scammers offer installments for apartments, they can offer to book an option by sending them money, or a code from Gosuslug to allegedly register the transaction. The amount for booking or the commission for the "special conditions" of the installment plan is usually 250-300 thousand rubles.

When buying a home, you should pay attention to several points. First of all, you should not trust the offer if the price is too favorable, 30-50% below the market, and independently check its availability on official websites. Secondly, it is always necessary to study the powers of a realtor through official registers or databases of real estate associations. The third recommendation is to use only secure payment methods when booking real estate, as well as avoid transfers to personal cards and electronic wallets of individuals. In addition, you cannot share personal data and SMS codes, even if the interlocutor claims that this is necessary for processing documents through Gosuslugi.

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Earlier in the day, Izvestia reported that fraud cases related to the erroneous receipt of non-existent parcels increased by 30%.

The attackers work as a team, where everyone has their own role. One introduces himself as an employee of the transport, postal or customs service and informs about the receipt of a parcel addressed to the victim. He also claims that it is urgently necessary to redeem and pay customs duties, it is specified on the website. kp.ru .

Then his accomplice pretends to be the "real recipient" of the parcel and convinces the victim not only to receive the parcel for him, but also to pay non-existent fees, threatening fines from customs and problems with law enforcement agencies. At the same time, the scammer promises to refund the money at the time of transfer of the parcel. As soon as a person transfers money for receiving a parcel to the specified account, both scammers disappear.