The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation warned about fraudsters pretending to be housing and communal services employees

The scammers have developed a scheme in which they pose as employees of housing and communal services and management companies to establish contact with citizens, telling them about the need to replace water or electricity meters at a discounted price. This was announced on June 7 in the press center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

"The attackers, posing as employees of the housing and communal services and management companies, offer to replace water or electricity meters at a discounted price, notify them of the need to check smoke detectors or ventilation with a demand to pay for the service," TASS quoted the agency as saying.

According to law enforcement agencies, scammers exert psychological pressure on victims and ask them to provide a code from an SMS message, allegedly to "update the database." In the future, criminals not only steal money, but also try to gain full control over people's behavior.

It's hard to be a Bot: Scammers have started using Telegram's New feature to Steal Data

Malware is disguised as correspondence automation — how not to become a victim

Andrey Sharkov, a member of the Russian Bar Association, spoke on June 6 about ways to protect against phone fraud. The expert recalled that real law enforcement officers do not call citizens through messengers. They use the phone exclusively to inform about the need to report to the police department.