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- Spoil the holiday: what tricks to expect from scammers before Russia Day
Spoil the holiday: what tricks to expect from scammers before Russia Day
Fraudsters may use various schemes to deceive the country's residents before Russia Day, experts have warned about this. The schemes of the attackers can be associated with both profitable holiday vacation offers and various official payments, which are allegedly due by June 12. For more information about what schemes to expect from scammers before Russia Day, how dangerous they are and how to protect yourself from them, read the Izvestia article.
Why is the celebration of Russia Day interesting to scammers?
Russia Day is one of the key public holidays, reaching a wide audience regardless of gender, age and social status, says Maria Mikhailova, head of the Angara SOC brand protection group, in an interview with Izvestia. At the same time, Russia Day is an additional day off, which, along with holidays, gives people a short vacation, and this in turn opens up opportunities for creating various fraudulent schemes, says Alexandra Shmigirilova, GR director of the Security Code information security company.
— This is an opportunity to plan a vacation: a trip out of town, visiting restaurants with family or friends, excursions, quests, and more, — says the expert. — At the same time, as an official holiday, Russia Day is associated with payments, awards and the beginning of grace periods.
In the first case, scammers act in the usual way, trying to gain access to money and personal data through favorable offers. In the second case, they use the holiday as an excuse to deceive, posing as government officials, says Alexandra Shmigirilova.
On the eve of the holidays, people are psychologically ready for "promotions", "bonuses", "compensations" and so on, especially if such proposals are made on behalf of the state, explains Maria Mikhailova. Fraudsters can easily exploit such topics to collect personal or payment data.
What kind of fraudulent schemes should we expect before Russia Day in 2025?
In 2025, the arsenal of scammers by Russia Day may be replenished with new, more sophisticated schemes that actively use the latest technological advances, Marina Probets, an Internet analyst and expert at Gazinformservice, told Izvestia.
"In particular, generative artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to be more widely used to create convincing deepfakes — audio and video materials that mimic the voices and images of officials or famous personalities who will 'announce' imaginary government payments, holiday promotions or lotteries," says the specialist.
According to Marina Probets, this will make phishing campaigns much more plausible and difficult to recognize. It is possible to predict the appearance of personalized phishing, where AI will analyze open data about the user in order to make fraudulent messages as relevant and convincing as possible, for example, by addressing by name and referring to interests or place of residence. Voice phishing (vishing) may be intensified, in which fraudsters, using voice cloning, will call victims, posing as employees of banks, government agencies or security services, in order to lure out confidential data under the pretext of "ensuring holiday security" or "processing payments."
— Finally, new schemes related to cryptocurrencies will appear, where under the guise of "holiday bonuses" or "state investment programs" citizens will be offered to invest in dubious crypto projects with the promise of huge profits by Russia Day, — predicts Marina Probets.
In turn, Evgeny Egorov, a leading analyst at the Digital Risk Protection department of F6, does not rule out the appearance of fraudulent schemes in 2025, in which Russia Day will be used as an excuse for promotions with unique offers or discounts on the purchase of goods and services. It is also possible that phishing and other cybercrime schemes directed against residents of new regions of Russia may appear, the expert warns.
What fraud schemes have you encountered before on Russia Day?
Since Russia Day is a state and official holiday, schemes based on offers of benefits or financial support related to it have appeared in recent years, Alexandra Shmigirilova says in an interview with Izvestia. Fraudsters contact citizens and claim that they are entitled to payments according to a regulatory act signed by that day.
— To receive them or confirm their identity, the attackers require you to provide document numbers (passport, SNILS, and others) or enter an SMS code, the expert says. — This method is standard, but the "legend" sounds convincing.
In addition, according to Alexandra Shmigrilova, vacation-related scam schemes are gaining popularity before June 12. Since Russia Day, even in combination with weekends, is a short vacation, Russians rarely plan full—fledged vacations for this time. At the same time, all kinds of entertainment venues are becoming popular: quests, parks, restaurants or country hotels.
Due to the lack of advance planning, the desired restaurant may be occupied at the last moment, tickets to the park have been redeemed, and vacation homes have been booked, the specialist says. In such a situation, "last minute tours" and "unique deals" with big discounts, valid for several hours, seem attractive. The desire to save money and have a good rest increases the risk of falling for scammers who usually use schemes on this subject.
"Previously, there were also cases of fake online stores being created or discount promotions timed to coincide with Russia Day," adds Marina Probets. — However, the users did not receive the goods after payment, and the sellers simply disappeared.
The scammers also played on patriotic feelings by organizing fake fundraisers for "patriotic projects," "support for veterans," or "festive events," using fake charitable foundations. All these schemes had one thing in common: they used the trust and festive mood of citizens to extort money or personal data, Marina Probets emphasizes.
How to protect yourself from fraud schemes by Russia Day?
Fraudulent schemes timed to coincide with public holidays, such as Russia Day, are aimed at a wide audience, which is their effectiveness, Maria Mikhailova told Izvestia. Citizens who trust any government officials and are not well versed in digital security issues are at high risk.
"Such schemes are also aimed at those who tend to trust any information on the Internet, regardless of the source of its distribution," says the specialist.
Leisure and entertainment booking schemes are designed for the working population who can afford such leisure, adds Alexandra Shmigirilova. While the payout story is mostly fraud, which is most vulnerable to pensioners who trust information about possible additional financial incentives.
According to Evgeny Egorov, a leading analyst at the Digital Risk Protection department of F6, the theme of Russia Day can be used both in phishing campaigns and investment fraud, which is dangerous for the loss of funds. In order to protect yourself from such risks, it is important to check the sources of information, especially when it comes to financial offers, investments or requests for help, says Maria Mikhailova.
— When booking and planning a vacation, it is important to follow the rules of cyber hygiene: be careful, do not take risks, handle documents carefully, double check information, carefully pay online, sign contracts and issue checks and certificates, — advises Alexandra Shmigirilova.
As for payments, the standard rules apply here: if officials call you with messages about payments, hang up and check the information on official websites. In the case of actual monetary compensation, you are usually notified in writing, and you can apply for it through your personal account at Gosuslugi or by contacting a government agency or an MFC. Government officials do not provide such services over the phone, the specialist concludes.
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