Roskatchestvo experts recorded a new type of fraud associated with the sharp increase in COVID-19 in America, especially in New York and the New York region. Fraudsters hack into a personal page on social network and send from it a message to user’s friends saying that his wife or husband died of coronavirus today. Similar texts were sent, including by Roskachestvo employees, allegedly from their friends on Vkontakte.
Fraudsters’ messages are emotional, but the text is cliched and impersonal “my dear husband…” because the attacker often does not know the victim’s real marital status. Next, the perpetrator either waits for the interlocutor to offer help himself, or asks to “discount” money for funeral arrangements or family support.
Fraudulent text is spread precisely through private messages, and not posted on the wall, i.e.k. in this case, users would react quicker to an apparent hack of the page and complain to the administration.
Anton Kukanov, head of Roskachevo Digital Expertise Center:
“Always when it comes to financial matters, especially financial aid to acquaintances that you have been asked for online or over the phone, you need to carefully verify the information. For example, contact the person or his relatives through another communication channel. This way you minimize the risk of giving your money to fraudsters.
How can we identify and protect ourselves from the new type of social media fraud called “Covid widowers” that Roskachestvo has recently discovered?