The expert spoke about a new scheme of fraudsters during the New Year holidays

On New Year's Eve, fraudsters invented a scheme to deceive representatives of Russian Railways (RZD) and airlines by offering fictitious cheap tickets for the holidays, as a result of which they steal personal data and money of Russians. This was announced on December 23 by Andrey Biychuk, Product Director at Defender.

"The attackers, posing as agents of airlines or Russian Railways, offer residents of large cities last-minute subsidized train or plane tickets to the regions of Russia for the upcoming holidays," he told RIA Novosti.

Scammers make massive calls through the contact database, targeting residents of Moscow, St. Petersburg and other large cities with millions. Posing as employees of the carriers, they offer to buy discounted tickets at a "special subsidized price."

Then, to apply for a "benefit", under the pretext of confirming the route and passport data, confidential information is lured from subscribers or they are asked to immediately make an advance payment for a "seat reservation".

Biychuk noted that no ticket subsidy programs are issued through a phone call. Ticket purchases should only take place through the official websites of carriers, licensed aggregators and ticket offices. Any request for prepayment via transfer to an individual or via an external link will definitely indicate fraud.

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Also on December 21, the ESA PRO cybersecurity company told about a new fraud scheme related to the delivery of New Year's corporate gifts. The attackers send messages stating that the courier could not get through and now you need to contact him directly. After establishing contact, scammers can extort personal information or offer to pay fake fees.

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