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- Deceptive offers: how scammers speculate on the topic of working abroad
Deceptive offers: how scammers speculate on the topic of working abroad
Fraudsters began using job offers abroad to extort money from Russians, the Interior Ministry warned about this. Such schemes develop gradually, the attackers do not ask for money immediately, but accompany the victim for months at each stage of the "registration". For more information about how scammers speculate on the topic of working abroad, what are the dangers of such tricks and how to protect yourself from them, read the Izvestia article.
What did the Interior Ministry say about the schemes for working abroad
On June 16, the Department for Combating the Illegal Use of Information and Communication Technologies (UBK) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation reported that fraudsters began using job offers abroad to lure money from Russians.
"Job offers abroad remain one of the most popular pretexts for fraud," the department wrote on its Telegram channel. — The scheme develops gradually, the attackers do not ask for money immediately, but accompany the victim for months at each stage of the "registration".
As an example, the cyber police cited the case of a manager from Moscow who posted a resume on a specialized website. The victim was allegedly contacted by a representative of a foreign employer in a messenger and offered a job at a warehouse in Germany. In the process of communication, the second participant in the scheme joined the dialogue, introducing himself as a specialist in visa support and paperwork. The scammers advised the man step by step, convincing him of the need to open an account with a European bank and confirm his financial viability in order to obtain a visa.
"To do this, the victim was offered to register on a cryptocurrency platform and deposit funds," explained UBK. After the Muscovite replenished the account in the amount of more than 100 thousand rubles, the attackers announced the blocking and demanded a repeat payment to access the funds. In total, the victim lost more than 270 thousand rubles.
Why is the topic of work abroad interesting to scammers
The topic of foreign employment is a psychologically perfect excuse for fraudsters to extract prepayment from gullible citizens, Maxim Fedosenko, a leading engineer and analyst at the Gazinformservice cybersecurity analytical center, said in an interview with Izvestia. In other words, the main interest of the attackers here lies in the fact that the need for visas, medical books and tickets for foreign employment very logically and convincingly justifies the need to make an advance payment and make initial contributions.
— As a result, against the background of the real need for these costs when applying for employment abroad, a request to transfer a couple thousand rubles to an employer seems like a normal working procedure and represents the usual transaction costs of the process of preparing for departure, — says the specialist.
When a person is already mentally in another country with a salary in foreign currency, prudence and suspicion are blunted, adds Yakov Filevsky, an expert in sociotechnical testing at Angara Security. Since getting a job abroad is a really complicated procedure, which not everyone understands even approximately, the fraudster, creating, in fact, dependent relationships, looks like an experienced supervisor.
In turn, Maria Sinitsyna, senior analyst at the Digital Risk Protection department at F6, points out that by offering jobs to those who are already abroad, attackers take advantage of the difficulties of finding it in other countries in a short time and the need for applicants to legalize. In addition, in such schemes, money theft occurs in cryptocurrency, which makes the theft data a little safer and more convenient for criminals than transfers to bank cards.
What schemes to look forward to for working abroad in 2026
In 2026, artificial intelligence is increasingly being used in fraudulent "recruiting", says the deputy head of the department of audits and compliance with information Security requirements at the Ural Center for Security Systems Ksenia Kuznetsova. Generative neural networks are used for phishing mailings, creating perfectly adapted, grammatically flawless job advertisements on behalf of real-life foreign companies.
— Such letters often bypass traditional mail filters and mislead victims from an early stage of correspondence, — explains the interlocutor of Izvestia. — Chatbots and more advanced AI agents can independently correspond with hundreds of applicants at the same time, imitating a live recruiter, and fine-tune deception scenarios for each specific candidate.
According to the expert, after receiving the entire package of documents (passport, INN, financial information), fraudsters can not only extort money under the guise of "visa fees", but also use the data for synthetic identity fraud — obtaining loans, registering shell companies and other operations on behalf of the victim.
By exploiting the topic of work abroad, scammers disguised as recruitment agencies can promise quick employment in another country and a turnkey move, experts at MTS Defender say. The attackers convince the potential victim of "the prospects of the job and the uniqueness of the applicant's experience." In this way, scammers try to build a trusting relationship with the victim and get personal data or access codes to bank accounts from her.
"In the coming months, having tried out simple schemes, fraudsters can stage whole performances, inventing fake HR agencies, creating fake company websites, conducting interviews with the help of AI agents, not to mention the standard practice of forgery of documents," warns Yakov Filevsky.
How to protect yourself from fraud schemes related to work abroad
The main target audience of schemes on the topic of work abroad are job seekers who are actively looking for it and posting resumes on specialized online platforms, says Ksenia Kuznetsova. The danger of these schemes, in addition to direct financial damage, is the theft of personal data.
— During the multi—stage "registration", victims voluntarily provide the fraudsters with passport scans, bank details and statements, as well as other sensitive information, - she notes.
According to the expert, the accounts to which the scammers are tricked into transferring money may belong to terrorist groups and other organizations whose financing is prosecuted under Russian law. Attackers can subsequently use the fact of receiving such a transfer to blackmail the victim and extort sums of money.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs reminds that a work visa is issued exclusively through a consulate or visa application center on the basis of an official invitation from the employer. Any financial requirements are confirmed by statements from the applicant's bank accounts, and not by transfers to third-party cryptographic platforms.
"Protection against such schemes lies in the basic skills of searching and verifying information from open sources (the so—called OSINT) and the concept of zero trust in all tempting and too profitable offers," Maxim Fedosenko notes.
When receiving an offer of employment abroad, it is necessary to check the counterparty through the official extracts of the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, verify the actual office address with the legal address and call back (regardless of any doubts) at the official company number found in independent sources, he recommends. It is also important to focus on risk markers.: A legitimate employer usually takes on the costs of relocation and registration themselves, and insures their risks by issuing an official employment contract.
— The basic rule is that each step is checked for necessity and documented. Personal data, documents, and money should be protected and carefully distributed,— concludes Alexandra Shmigirilova, GR Director of the Security Code Information Security company.
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