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- Schemes for the summer: scammers began to use the theme of recreation in children's camps
Schemes for the summer: scammers began to use the theme of recreation in children's camps
With the onset of summer, scammers began to use the theme of recreation in children's camps in their schemes, experts warned about this. The attackers promise parents to issue all the necessary documents and provide vouchers for their children, but in fact they steal both money and personal data of the victims. For more information about what schemes to expect from scammers on recreation in children's camps in the summer of 2025, how dangerous they are and how to protect yourself from them, see the Izvestia article
Why is the theme of summer children's camps interesting to scammers?
Summer camps are a popular vacation destination for children during the holidays, because parents continue to work, so fraudsters, according to the principle of "seasonality" of schemes, switch attention from schools to more relevant leisure places for the younger generation, says Alexey Korobchenko, head of the information security department at the Security Code company, in an interview with Izvestia.
"Parents, in turn, are looking for the most acceptable conditions, including price, and scammers take advantage of this by offering non—existent or low—quality services, but at an attractive price," says the expert.
Every year, parents look for vacation options for their children, which in itself makes the situation predictable for scammers, adds Maria Mikhailova, head of the Angara SOC brand protection group. The attackers offer parents to urgently buy out last-minute tours, book the best recreation centers or peak dates, and focus on time-limited promotions or a small number of places.
Creating a stir, scammers ask to transfer funds for booking a seat, transfer or meals. Such requests from strangers who speak a professional language for travel agents may seem completely normal to parents, so they will easily part with money for a child's vacation.
What schemes of scammers with children's camps can we expect in 2025?
In 2025, we should expect sophisticated fraudulent schemes on recreation in children's camps using new technologies, says Vitaly Fomin, head of the information security analyst group at the Digital Economy League, in an interview with Izvestia. According to the expert, neural networks and chatbots are likely to be used to create fake video responses and advertisements.
— It is possible that criminals will copy existing camp websites and their social media accounts, — notes Vitaly Fomin.
Also, we should not forget about partner and government programs that annually provide children with vouchers to camps, the specialist adds. Attackers can impersonate representatives of such organizations, so it is important to remain vigilant and not share any information about yourself and children with unknown people.
In turn, Maria Mikhailova admits that in the summer of 2025, fraudsters will continue to create fake accounts on social networks or phishing sites that attract visitors with a "special price" or "limited number of places." A scheme of "authorization through Public Services" can be implemented on such services. In addition to financial benefits from the sale of non-existent tours, attackers will also be able to gain access to accounts on "Public Services".
"Considering that summer has just begun, and parents are often engaged in organizing their children's vacations and buying vouchers at the last moment, this season we expect the Mammoth scheme to spread even more widely to the field of children's recreation," says Maria Sinitsyna, senior analyst at the Digital Risk Protection department at F6.
As part of the Mammoth scheme, attackers use fake websites to offer users to book a trip to the camp and make an advance payment, just like with fake hotel bookings.
In addition, according to Maria Sinitsina, in a scenario with fake bookings of trips to children's camps, attackers can include the distribution of malicious software: for example, under the pretext of booking through a specific application, send an APK file to install and further infect the device.
What schemes have you encountered before on the topic of recreation in children's camps?
In recent years, attackers have actively used clone sites to obtain prepayment, full payment for travel packages or personal data of parents, says Maria Sinitsyna. Also, to hijack accounts in messengers, scammers carried out phishing mailings asking them to vote for a child in a contest, in which the main prize was allegedly vouchers to a children's camp.
— Previously, scammers actively sold vouchers to non-existent children's camps or offered to "relax by the sea," adds Maria Mikhailova. — For example, in 2022, in Nizhny Tagil, a fraudster "sold" vouchers to a children's camp in Anapa at a price of only 10% of the real cost.
According to the expert, the scammer received funds by transfer by phone number. After receiving the payment, she postponed the date of issue of vouchers, but then simply disappeared. And last year in Kazan, scammers created accounts in messengers and social networks with the logo of the Yal city center and offered to purchase vouchers. However, the Yal center itself has officially stated that it does not sell vouchers in messengers.
Fraudsters often resort to phishing — sending fake emails and messages on social networks on behalf of well-known camps with a request to fill out a form to confirm personal data or pay for services, adds Vitaly Fomin. In fact, this was how they gained access to users' personal and banking data.
To whom are the schemes on recreation in children's camps aimed?
As a rule, fraudulent schemes on children's recreation are aimed at families with children of primary and secondary school age, says Vitaly Fomin. The risk group includes residents of the regions who are looking for favorable offers, as well as young parents who do not know the specifics of the reservation system for children's camps.
"Busy people who did not have time to purchase a ticket in advance are also at risk,— the Izvestia source notes. — They often make decisions in a short time, so they do not notice the inaccuracies in the design of the site, which are allowed by intruders. For example, typos, replacement of letters in the address bar, and errors in the description of the organization.
Parents often ask their children to choose their own vacation destination on the Internet, but in this case it is important to critically evaluate the option offered by the child, emphasizes Vitaly Fomin. In turn, Maria Mikhailova adds that, in addition to finances, victims of fraud may lose personal data.
There is a possibility that this data may be used by hackers in the future both to apply for loans and to register and resell accounts on dubious platforms. Attackers can also gain access to accounts on Gosuslugi or Telegram.
How to protect yourself from fraud schemes on recreation in children's camps?
To protect yourself from fraud schemes, when choosing a summer camp for children's recreation, find its official website and specify through which organizations and in what order they sell vouchers to this camp, advises Maria Sinitsyna. At the same time, to purchase vouchers, contact only trusted organizations.
Don't trust 100% of the search results. When creating clone websites and websites of non-existent children's recreation organizations, fraudsters use special tools to promote them in the search results of popular sites so that they appear as high as possible, the expert notes.
Pay attention to the organization's website design and the correct spelling of the domain. Use whois services to check the domain registration date. Fraudulent attacks are usually carried out on sites whose domains have been registered recently, a few weeks or a couple of months before verification.
—Attackers often come up with something new,— concludes the head of BI.ZONE Brand Protection Dmitry Kiryushkin. — Follow the news in the field of cybersecurity and share information with colleagues, friends and family so that they are also aware and careful.
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