A trick survey: how scammers deceive parents of schoolchildren
Fraudsters have become more likely to deceive Russians under the guise of members of the parent committee. They send questionnaires to parents of schoolchildren asking them to evaluate the organization of graduation, meals or medical services, and then lure out personal and payment information. Izvestia found out how such schemes work and how to protect against them.
Under the guise of surveys
Scammers have come up with a new scheme to deceive parents of schoolchildren. They steal accounts under the pretext of participating in surveys, the Department for organizing the fight against the illegal use of information and communication technologies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia said.
Hackers send messages to Russians on behalf of representatives of the school or the parent committee. It contains a link to a website where you need to participate in surveys, for example, to evaluate events, school meals, and extracurricular activities. In order to leave a voice, parents are asked to log in through a personal account. If the person agrees, the data will immediately get to the scammers.
As Maxim Alexandrov, an expert in Security Code software products, explains to Izvestia, the scheme began to be used more often at the end of May — before the start of graduation. Criminals write to Russians in messengers or social networks (for example, Telegram and VKontakte) and attach links to sites containing malicious files or fake pages, which allows them to steal usernames and passwords. This information is used to steal money, sell personal information, or further criminal schemes.
"For example, they can gain access to victims' bank accounts or make loans in someone else's name, as well as conduct illegal transactions, causing serious damage to victims," says Alexandrov.
Scheme options
Alexandra Pozharskaya, an expert of the Popular Front project For Borrowers' Rights and the Moshelovka platform, notes that the scheme appeared about two years ago and continues to spread actively. At the same time, scammers use different options — they even appear to be employees of Rosobrnadzor. They ingratiate themselves with the help of questionnaires with harmless questions, for example, about the quality of medical care at school.
— After filling out the questionnaire, the person received a message about the need to enter the login and password from his account in the messenger or on the Gosuslugi portal in a special and very plausible window, allegedly to identify the interviewee, — says Pozharskaya.
After criminals receive the necessary data, the scheme can develop in different ways: a person's messenger account can be stolen and they can start deceiving people from their contact list, blackmail them with any information from their profile, or call them disguised as police or FSB officers and demand to give them an SMS code to log in to Gosuslugi. transfer all your money and savings to a "secure account". In some cases, people were accused of "financing the Armed Forces of Ukraine" and intimidated with criminal prosecution, demanding large sums, up to the sale of housing and the transfer of all the proceeds.
— We receive bursts of reports about this scheme on the eve or after the end of the school year. It is at this time that such messages do not arouse suspicion among parents — it's time to take stock and relax or prepare for exams and admission," says Pozharskaya.
At the same time, she adds, the scheme can be adapted for children from kindergartens. And use it according to the same scenario.
Similar tricks
Fraudsters can use different versions of the scheme, says Marina Probets, an Internet analyst and expert at Gazinformservice. In the context of school life, this may be selling tickets to proms or other school events. Scammers create fake websites or social media groups that mimic the official school pages and offer to purchase graduation tickets at a discounted price or with the promise of additional services (for example, photo and video filming).
— Messages may also be sent asking you to pay an "entrance fee" or a "reserve payment" to participate in the event. Another type is messages asking you to confirm your participation in the graduation with an attached link to a phishing website where bank card data is collected under the pretext of payment," says the Izvestia interlocutor.
In a broader sense, such schemes are also common outside of school subjects. They may be related to lotteries, contests, offers of profitable investments or the provision of services, where the victim is persuaded to transfer money to unknown accounts under various pretexts, using psychological manipulation and creating the illusion of a profitable offer.
"All these schemes have one thing in common — using the victim's trust and the situation relevant to her to gain access to her funds and personal information,— concludes Probets.
Methods of protection
In order to protect yourself and your children from such fraud schemes, experts recommend following several rules. First, it is important to check the legitimacy of the sender of the message and the link before clicking on it, or not at all. If you need to enter data, you need to carefully read the website address and make sure that the resource is official and not fake.
— Be careful of grammatical errors and writing style in messages, as scammers often make mistakes. Never share personal data, passwords, or bank card information in response to messages or through links from unknown sources," says Marina Probets.
She recalls that official messages from the school usually come through trusted communication channels, and not through random messages in messengers. And even more so, Rosobrnadzor will not contact parents through them. If the messages are allegedly coming from members of the parent committee, you can call the head of the committee or the homeroom teacher, as the accounts could have been hacked or fake ones used.
— Teach children to be critical of information on the Internet and not to trust strangers, not to click on links, not to disclose personal information. Use antivirus solutions and install them for children. Check bank statements and social media accounts regularly for suspicious activity," advises a cybersecurity expert.
If the scammers still managed to deceive the person, Alexandra Pozharskaya recommends that you immediately inform your bank, the police, or contact the MFC to restore access to your account.
"The sooner the victim reports the incident to the bank, the MFC and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the more likely it is to prevent losses, return stolen goods and find criminals and their accomplices," concludes the Moshelovka expert.
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