A movie about villains: scammers rob Russians under the pretext of watching a movie
Scammers began to deceive single Russians, posing as girls from dating sites or from social networks. They offer to watch a movie online together, but in fact they pull money from the card. Izvestia found out how the new scheme works and how to protect against it.
Under the guise of a movie
Scammers have come up with a new way to deceive single Russians under the guise of girls who want to get to know each other. They offer to watch a movie together on a popular platform, but in fact they steal money from cards, F6 told Izvestia.
At the first stage of the scheme, criminals post a profile on social networks or on a dating site, sometimes using bots in Telegram or real hacked profiles of real girls. They present themselves as young residents of Moscow, St. Petersburg and other large cities - free and as natural as possible, so as not to arouse suspicion.
— Scammers borrow photos of real girls from social networks, avoiding explicit pictures and fake images. The number of subscribers of a girl whose photo is borrowed by intruders is usually less than 1000, so that the appearance is not too recognizable. To avoid being banned for using other people's photos, attackers process images using photo editors and neural networks, the F6 press service said.
When meeting the victim, the "girl" translates the correspondence into private messages in Telegram. At the same time, she takes her time with a real meeting and suggests getting to know each other from a distance — for example, watching a movie through a popular app for sharing. And then he sends a link supposedly to a film, usually a novelty of Russian or foreign production.
By going to the page, the person receives an offer to pay for the subscription. The amount can be any: from 1 ruble and above, usually no more than 100 rubles. The fraudster determines the subscription price himself, it is important for him that too high a price does not scare the victim away. If a person enters the card details, they leak to the scammers — all that remains is to lure the code out of the message.
Risks of the scheme
If a user of Android devices becomes a victim of the scheme, the risks become higher, F6 said. When clicking on a phishing link and selecting an operating system, the potential victim ends up in a fake app store that looks like Google Play, which offers to download an APK file under the guise of a legitimate application.
— In fact, the file is a malicious application that allows you to intercept incoming SMS messages on the user's device. After the application offers to pay for the subscription, and the victim enters the bank card details, the attackers immediately get the opportunity to withdraw money from the account, the company explains.
They noted that the scam group that uses this fraud scenario is purposefully acting against users from Russia. Since the beginning of 2025, the "cinema at a distance" scheme has helped intruders deceive more than 40 people, from whom 343 thousand rubles were stolen. The average amount of damage was 8 thousand rubles. The rave-film domain[.]com, which is used in this scheme, was created in April 2024.
— Thus, fraudulent groups are gradually moving away from the usual fake dating scheme, in which the attackers needed to persuade a potential victim to meet and buy tickets. After the pandemic, when long—distance leisure activities became as commonplace as live meetings, it became easier for fraudsters to find an excuse to obtain bank card data from potential victims, and using fake applications allows them to steal users' money in a matter of minutes," concludes a senior analyst at the Digital Risk Protection department.) of the company F6 Maria Sinitsyna.
"Romantic" tricks
As Alla Khrapunova, an expert of the Popular Front project For Borrowers' Rights and curator of the Moshelovka platform, explains to Izvestia, the online movie viewing scheme is one of the modifications of the Antikino scheme, which is simply more technically complex and implies the possibility of large losses. Previously, fraudsters persuaded the victim to buy a ticket to a non-existent cinema, theater, karaoke or book a table in a restaurant, forcing them to transfer a specific amount, but now they can access all of a person's funds.
— Therefore, it is important to remember the rule that it is better to make all online purchases with a specially designated card and keep a minimum amount of money on it, — the expert advises.
According to her, scammers use many other dating schemes. One of the most popular ones right now is related to the excuse to invest in different projects. Scammers search for victims in dating apps, establish close and trusting communication, and at some point "let slip" about very successful investments. They talk about a simple entry into an exchange or a platform for trading currencies, cryptocurrencies, and securities. And if the victim is interested in making a lot of money quickly and easily, then, given their warm relationship, the "partner" is ready to help with pleasure.
— As soon as the victim agrees, the traditional deception begins, in which they draw pictures on the screen with graphs and a wallet replenished every day, with a growing income — but all this is a lie. And when you try to withdraw money from the "platform" or "exchange", the "partner" disappears. Losses are almost always very significant and amount to hundreds of thousands of rubles," says Alla Khrapunova.
Izvestia managed to find a girl who suffered from a similar scheme. Ekaterina said that the fraudster communicated with her under the guise of a "guy from a neighboring city": they joked and laughed a lot, quickly became close. Then Alexey found out that Ekaterina was raising a child alone, she didn't have enough money, and offered to "help" — to make money on the stock exchange with supposedly minimal investments. As a result, the young mother transferred several thousand rubles to him and lost the money.
At the same time, adds Andrey Zhdanukhin, head of the L1 GSOC analytics group, there are also schemes that go beyond online dating. For example, in Moscow, the method of deception through flower delivery is still common: scammers give a bouquet from a "secret admirer", and then ask to say the SMS code to allegedly confirm the successful anonymous delivery. But instead, the girl receives a message with a code from Gosuslug — and if she calls the numbers, the account is stolen.
Methods of protection
In order to protect yourself from scammers on social networks and on dating sites, experts recommend not to disclose any important information, not to share overly personal photos, videos, and even more so not to transfer money. Fraudsters often ask them for "tickets", claim that they want to come to a person, or write that they are in a difficult situation, says Alla Khrapunova.
She reminds that when dating, it is important to maintain critical thinking and remember that a person can pretend to be anyone. It is better not to have confidential conversations with strangers.
— Do not follow links from strangers. If you are offered to watch a movie, choose an official and familiar service, do not be afraid to take the initiative in this matter, advises Andrey Zhdanukhin. — Do not install applications from unverified sources. Use only official marketplaces, such as Google Play and the App Store, but even there, check the reviews and the manufacturer.
In addition, he urges you to carefully check the sites that a person goes to, and not enter card data on questionable or any unfamiliar resources. Especially if someone sent a link to them - even if it is a familiar person, it cannot be ruled out that it was hacked.
If a person has any suspicions after buying online, it is better to block the card immediately. And then call the bank — they can stop the debit there. If you are still deceived, you should immediately contact the police by attaching screenshots of the correspondence.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
