Interior Ministry warns of fraudsters stealing Telegram accounts via Wi-Fi connection

Fraudsters have started using a scheme to steal Telegram accounts via Wi-Fi connection. This was reported on February 6 in the press service of the Department for combating cybercrime (UBK) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

"Attackers create their own fake networks that outwardly look like real ones. Malicious networks can be encountered in any public place. For example, an access point with the name SVO_Free worked at Sheremetyevo airport," the agency's Telegram channel says.

After connecting to such a network, the user will be asked to pass authorization, which involves entering a code sent by SMS.

The agency specified that fraudsters, in turn, instead of the standard procedure offer to authorize through Telegram. To do this, it is enough to send a six-digit code, which comes via SMS, in the service bot. In this way, the attackers gain access to the Telegram account.

In the press service of Sheremetyevo airport in this regard, passengers urged to connect only to the official network _Sheremetyevo Wi-Fi, authorization here is through a cell phone number.

A similar point: how scammers cheat with public Wi-Fi

Sheremetyevo Airport urged to use only official Internet connections

Earlier, on January 30, IT expert Alexei Ermakov of the Cyber Sports Department of the Faculty of Game Industry and Cybersports at Synergy University said that the Mamont virus is spreading in Telegram, which reads SMS messages, push notifications, as well as photos from the gallery to gain access to payment systems. As the expert pointed out, the danger lies in the fact that it can independently manage SMS banking and steal user's personal data.