Insurance breakdown: fraudsters began to offer help with the registration of CTP
Fraudsters can deceive Russians by promising them assistance with the registration of CTP, experts have warned about this. The attackers offer to issue policies instantly and on terms more profitable than market conditions. However, in practice, such "assistance" turns out to be the fact that drivers in case of accidents find themselves without any help from insurance companies and risk running into fines. For more information about how scammers speculate on the topic of assistance with CTP registration, how dangerous their schemes are and how to protect themselves from them, read the Izvestia article.
What is known about the offers of scammers on the topic of CTP
In September, BI.ZONE Brand Protection specialists found more than 5,000 ads on digital bulletin boards and online platforms, where users are offered assistance with CTP registration, the company told Izvestia. The authors of these ads promised to issue the policy remotely and send the finished document by e-mail.
The customer was only required to make a payment and provide their details. In addition, there were promises to issue a policy at a lower-than-market price, as well as to provide the buyer with discounts and bonuses. According to experts, at least 9% of such ads may be fraudulent.
— Fraudulent schemes related to the topic of CTP can be different, — says the head of BI.ZONE Brand Protection Dmitry Kiryushkin. — Some attackers require prepayment, stop contacting you, or send you a fake insurance policy.
Others implement schemes involving the use of other people's discounts, for example, they may issue a policy not to their client, but to a third party who is entitled to bonuses for trouble-free driving, but who actually has nothing to do with the car or the policyholder. There are also proposals to help reduce the bonus-malus coefficient (KBM), an indicator of accident—free driving, depending on which the cost of the policy increases or decreases.
What is the topic of CTP policies interesting to scammers?
The activity of fraudsters may be related to the fact that sales of CTP policies are growing, according to BI.ZONE Brand Protection. According to the Central Bank, the growth has been 4.2% since the beginning of the year. The car insurance market as a whole has increased by about a third. The higher the demand for a product or service, the more often attackers use them as a cover, betting on user interest, experts say.
"OSAGO attracts fraudsters for two complementary reasons," says Sergey Polunin, head of the Gazinformservice IT infrastructure Solutions protection group, in an interview with Izvestia. — Firstly, every car owner has to buy a CTP, without exception, and the cost of the service is increasing. This forces us to look for cheaper options.
In addition, according to the expert, today most policies are sold online, which means that you can use all kinds of phishing tools and create "doppelgangers" of legal sites. Valeria Besedina, an analyst at the Positive Technologies research group, agrees with this: the opportunity to obtain electronic insurance policies (e-CTP) has opened up opportunities for attacks, for example, using phishing sites.
— CTP is a mandatory insurance product for every car owner, which means that the "market" of potential victims will be large, — the expert emphasizes.
What schemes on the topic of CTP were previously found on the Web?
Previously, fraudsters have repeatedly used topics related to CTP, says Valeria Besedina. For example, in one case, the attackers created fake websites that were visually indistinguishable from the resources of popular insurance companies.
— On such a "double" of a real policy sale site, a person entered his personal data and his card data, and then lost money, — Sergey Polunin says in an interview with Izvestia. — In addition, there was a sale of blank forms or even reissued policies online.
Finally, there were quite "exotic" options — phishing sites, where it was proposed to issue a refund for the recalculation of the CTP. At the same time, as the expert notes, today deepfakes from call centers have appeared in the arsenal of scammers who offer to do everything online, and the media has repeatedly written about QR stickers in offline locations like service stations or parking lots, links to which lead to fake pages of insurers. In addition, the National Insurance Information System (NSIS) has been launched in Russia, which means that we can expect phishing "creativity" around this service, Sergei Polunin believes.
"In 2025, we can expect the evolution of existing schemes and the emergence of new ones related to the development of technologies," adds Valeria Besedina. — For example, scammers will create bots in instant messengers that can potentially imitate official insurance assistants.
Using artificial intelligence (AI), they will be able to communicate convincingly, offer favorable terms and redirect Russians to phishing pages for payment. It will also allow criminals to put their activities on stream.
What are the dangers of fraud schemes on the topic of CTP policies?
The schemes of CTP scammers are aimed at all car owners without exception, and especially at the young and inexperienced, who are poorly versed in the intricacies of policy design, or the elderly, who are not so well versed in the use of digital services, says Valeria Besedina. Thrifty customers looking for the best deals can also fall into the trap.
"Such schemes are aimed primarily at novice car owners and those who are looking for ways to get CTP cheaper against the backdrop of rising tariffs for compulsory civil liability insurance for drivers in case of an accident," agrees Maria Mikhailova, head of the Angara MTDR brand protection group.
In this case, the victim may not only lose money, but also transfer his personal data to fraudsters, the Izvestia interlocutor notes. Later, this data can be used in other schemes of intruders.
Buying a fake CTP policy is fraught with financial and legal consequences for the car owner: it will not save from permanent fines in accordance with the Administrative Code for driving without insurance and will not protect in the event of an accident if the driver is found guilty and is involved in compensation for damage to third parties, emphasizes Maria Mikhailova.
How to protect yourself from CTP-related fraud schemes
You can recognize a fraudulent offer by offering too favorable terms and promises of big discounts. In order not to become a victim of intruders, all types of insurance should be issued only through official resources, experts advise.
— The most reliable option is to contact the insurance company personally, — adds Sergey Polunin. — Neither by links, nor by QR code, but by typing the website yourself in the browser, or even better, go to the office. People should always be alarmed by offers 20-40% below the market, and insurance is no exception.
In addition, Izvestia's interlocutor advises checking existing policies through the NSIS in advance, and not when an accident occurs and you discover that in reality you do not have any policy and have never had one. In turn, Valeria Besedina reminds that the main barrier against fraudsters is to remain vigilant and calm.
Do not make payments on sites that you are not familiar with, and do not transfer funds to third parties. Please know that a real policy will not be sold much cheaper. And also, do not share confidential information, such as passport data or payment card data, with persons unknown to you, the expert concludes.
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