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- Go into negative territory: how scammers deceive Russians under the pretext of investing
Fraudsters have become more likely to deceive Russians, offering to invest profitably and receive a high risk-free income. They find victims on social networks and Telegram channels, and sometimes even on dating sites, cybersecurity experts say. Izvestia found out what schemes criminals use and how to protect themselves from them.
Investment schemes
Fraudsters have become more likely to deceive Russians under the pretext of profitable investments. Irina Dmitrieva, an analytical engineer at the Gazinformservice Cybersecurity Research Laboratory, told Izvestia about this.
According to her, the number of schemes has increased with the growth of Telegram channels on the topic of investing. Victims are usually chosen by people who do not have sufficient knowledge of stock markets. Scammers can find people on social networks and messengers, promising high risk-free income in a short time.
— Attackers can pose as professional financial consultants, for example, and offer unique and profitable investment opportunities. Scammers also often use the names of well-known companies and create fake websites that mimic legitimate organizations," added Konstantin Gorbunov, a leading expert on network threats and web developer at the Security Code company.
As the expert explained, such schemes are scam projects. Their essence is to force the victim to transfer funds to the balance of the platform to "increase capital."
— Deception can manifest itself immediately, because after depositing an account, scammers disappear, especially often in the case of cryptocurrency projects, — the expert noted. — But a long-running story is also possible. At first, the user is shown an imaginary high yield and even allowed to withdraw funds, creating the appearance of "transparency", however, with the next large deposit, the victim may lose all the money or lose the opportunity to withdraw it.
For those who have already been hooked, scammers offer to invite friends, promising rewards. This helps the platform gain popularity, turning the scheme into a pyramid scheme, Konstantin Gorbunov explained.
Common tricks
According to Alla Khrapunova, an expert of the Popular Front For Borrowers' Rights project and curator of the Moshelovka platform, there are quite a lot of investment-related schemes. But lately, two are more common.
— The first one goes like this: the victim sees tempting offers of trading and investing training in the messenger for free, with the possibility of opening a demo account and the starting amount on it. He starts communicating with the author, and then there may be different scenarios," says the expert.
In the first case, a person gets into a fake specially created Telegram chat, where participants transfer their money to the administrator in order for him to earn money on the auction in their interests. According to legend, the author is a successful trader who "has already earned millions and agrees to share his skills with others." For persuasiveness, reviews of other people are published in the chat (they are either fake or just bots), screenshots with the income they received from the investment of the same "guru".
— Tempting phrases about the absence of risk, super-profit are often used in channels, and elements of pressure to take quick action are necessarily embedded. "Hurry up, I only accept money until 12 o'clock, the last chance" are examples of such motivational phrases, says Alla Khrapunova.
According to her, many victims said that in the beginning they were just following the development of events. Then their doubts were replaced by excitement and a desire for easy money. People transferred small amounts, received income, and then, when contributions grew to large amounts, it was no longer possible to withdraw them.
In the second scenario, victims were taught how to play the stock market in a demo version of the app. The curator told the basic basics, showed the principles of work and supported them in every possible way.
— The victim's first attempts were successful, because the person was offered to switch to a real trading account — "why delay success when there are rudiments of a successful trader." And again, the deception will develop until the victim wants to withdraw money — she will not succeed," says the curator of Moshelovka.
Dating for a million
Sometimes scammers come up with more sophisticated schemes, for example, using dating sites. They find victims there, engage in light correspondence, and then talk about successful investing experiences (their own or a relative's) and offer to earn some easy money.
— Preliminary warm communication dulls logic and vigilance. The victim is ready to give his money, and sometimes borrowed money, convincing himself with the "guarantees of a loved one." As in all stories, she thinks for a while that she really works on the stock exchange, participates in trades with the help and support of a new acquaintance, sees her financial "successes", which, unfortunately, remain only on the computer screen, — says Alla Khrapunova.
But the schemes don't end there either. Fraudsters often proceed to the second stage of deception — the victim is found by a pseudo-terrorist who promises to save the lost money and return it in full. Many people believe these stories, because in reality they do not understand how the securities market works and calculations on it, and they lose large sums again. In fact, the expert emphasizes, it is impossible to return the invested money.
How to distinguish a scammer
There are several simple ways to distinguish a fraudster from a real specialist. As explained by Yulia Vedeneeva, financial advisor and founder of Vedeneeva Consulting Group, these include:
- promises of quick profits: if a person is guaranteed a return above the market without risks, this is almost always a deception.;
- Pressure on decision-making: scammers often rush things so that the victim doesn't have time to think;
- Anonymity: if contacts are hidden or there is no office, this is a reason to be wary.
— Experts should not be sought in dubious groups on social networks, on forums with anonymous tips and "experts". Nor should you contact those who promise guaranteed profits, who do not provide clear information about themselves and their company, or who require prepayment, money transfer to personal accounts or crypto wallets," says the Izvestia interlocutor.
Financial advisor, founder of the Rodin company.Alexey Rodin advises Capital not to open an account or transfer money to unknown companies for security reasons. It is important to always check whether the investment company has the appropriate license and specify the website address on the regulator's portal. The Central Bank is the regulator of the financial market in Russia.
— If you are looking for a financial consultant, look at the Central Bank's website for a list of self-regulatory organizations in the financial market, choose an Association of Financial Planning Specialists (financial advisers), go to their website and choose a consultant. With this algorithm, you can find a specialist yourself through official channels," the expert advises.
According to him, investment and brokerage companies do not engage in cold calls and do not guarantee profitability without risks. Promising any kind of profitability is prohibited by law. A real investment company in advertising can provide data on past profitability, and no more.
— To summarize, we can advise contacting only licensed banks and investment companies, studying reviews and reputations, diversifying risks — not investing everything in one asset and consulting with independent specialists, — concludes Yulia Vedeneeva.
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