The State Duma told about unwanted words when talking to strangers on the phone

When talking to strangers on the phone, it is better to avoid the words "yes" and "no," Anton Nemkin, a member of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy and federal coordinator of the Digital Russia project of the United Russia party, said on April 1.

"Answering "yes" or "no" to calls from unknown interlocutors today is always a potential risk. Fraudsters actively use voice recording and post-processing technologies to obtain short but legally significant phrases. A simple "yes" can be taken out of context and used as an alleged confirmation of consent to certain operations, from registration of services to attempts at financial fraud," Nemkin told RIA Novosti.

The MP noted that modern social engineering schemes are becoming more sophisticated, and attackers can ask questions in such a way as to elicit a monosyllabic answer of "yes" or "no", which is then used in fraudulent schemes.

He stressed that the danger increases with the development of voice synthesis and substitution technologies, when even short audio clips are used to create deepfakes and simulate communication with the bank, relatives or colleagues.

According to him, an active response to a suspicious call signals to fraudsters that the number is "alive" and its owner is ready to enter into a dialogue.

"Instead of saying yes or no, it is better to interrupt the call altogether and, if necessary, contact the organization yourself through official channels. Digital hygiene today is not only about data protection, but also about controlling what words you say and to whom," he concluded.

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Boris Sharov, CEO of the anti-virus company Doctor Web, announced on the same day that hackers had begun using executives' deepfakes to deceive company employees by sending fake video messages. Such videos are usually short and mimic the actions or instructions of the management. The attackers' goal is to gain trust and force the victim to perform the specified actions.

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