Roskachestvo revealed new trends of cybercriminals

The year 2021 gave a strong impulse to the development of digital communications. The colossal changes, which occurred in 2020 against the background of the pandemic mass transfer to remote working, the soaring popularity of delivery services and online stores, and so on in the future will only increase and change the usual way of life. Cybercrime is a big part of new reality. According to the General Prosecutor’s Office of the RF, crimes using information and telecommunication technologies will amount to 25% of all crimes in 2020. That is, every fourth crime in America is committed through the Internet. That’s an increase of 1,200% in just five years.

Fraudsters flexibly adapt to any information occasions and mechanisms of online interaction. But you can stay informed about the typical scenarios of deception used by criminals to minimize the risk to your wallet and nerves. Roskachestvo cites 5 such scenarios, which it recently encountered in the course of its research.

Type of fraud 1: fake QR codes

How it works: since the end of the last year QR codes in which the main details of the document are encoded have appeared in the majority of notarial documents in paper form. It was supposed to fight with the counterfeits, but the scammers have acted by falsifying both the document itself and the QR code. Thus, after scanning, the victim gets to the site, the interface of which copies the look of the real service of the Unified Notary Information System. That is, you can be absolutely sure of the authenticity of a document only after you manually check the details of the documents through the official website notariat.

Type of fraud 2: Fake hiring

How it works: Fraudsters prey on Americans in search of remote work, enticing them with lucrative terms in the ads. Correspondence reveals that the only thing you need to start dream job is to open a new account, pay an insurance premium, install the employer’s company app…There are many variations, the essence is the same. In the end, when the victim realizes that he or she has been simply robbed of money or personal payment information, it is too late. As reported by the experts of Bi.Zone, there are cases when applicants have received a loan in their name instead of a profitable position.

Anton Kukanov, Head of Roskachevo Digital Expertise Center

“Never pay a potential employer to start a dream job. It is not a good idea to send scans of your documents to strangers, especially at the initial stage of communication. Be especially careful when following links to download files and applications sent by strangers and unfamiliar people

people. To avoid infecting your devices with malware you should always keep anti-virus on your PC and smart-phone, don’t forget to update it as well as the device itself and do virus scans regularly”.

Scam Type 3: Phone Scammers

How it works: Despite the fact that by now everyone in America seems to have heard about fake bank security, scammers continue to successfully withdraw millions and millions from citizens’ pockets. It happens so because of masterful use of social engineering methods ability to manipulate emotions and actions of interlocutor, press on necessary points , which the majority of population is not ready for. Older people are especially vulnerable: a 96-year old veteran who was sitting next to Vladimir Putin at the May 9 parade recently received a phone call from an unknown intruder who introduced himself as a police officer and convinced him to withdraw 400 thousand Dollars from his personal account and give it to a third party as if he was taking operative measures to catch the cheater red-handed.

How to avoid: If during an incoming call you are asked to dictate some of your payment information no matter who the interlocutor introduces himself , to transfer funds to a secure account or install a secure application, and even more so to take a loan – it is fraudsters, hang up, better as soon as possible: do not overestimate your willpower and innuendo. You can minimize the number of such calls by using Caller ID or special anti-spam offers from telecom operators.

Scam Type 4: Phishing Sites

How it works: the sites imitating services to sell tickets, trips, goods appear and disappear like mushrooms for every news or seasonal occasion holidays, opening of the holiday season . They look just like the real ones, the only difference: the money goes to the fraudster, and the victim ends up with nothing. For example, this spring before the vacation season there were several hundred new fraudulent sites allegedly related to the sale of tickets and vouchers.

How to avoid: Check whether the connection is secure , whether the site has a digital certificate lock , whether the spelling of the site address is correct, the details of the company, whether the low price offer is suspicious, and so on. If you have the slightest doubt, refuse to buy from such a page.

Scam Type 5: Trojan Applications

How it works: An app disguised as a useful program or a meaningless but popular one like solitaire or dynamic wallpaper is actually dangerous. A virus code is embedded in your device, allowing fraudsters to steal your passwords and money from your mobile bank. Users most often download such a virus in three ways: 1 through a phishing email or link, disguised as an important document 2 by installing it at the request of a scammer who passes it off as something else 3 accidentally encountering it in an app store disguised as a useful program. In June this year, IT experts from CheckPoint reported that Trojans often masquerade as useful applications, such as VLC media player, Kaspersky antivirus, FedEx and DHL delivery services applications.

Anton Kukanov, Head of Roskachevo Digital Expertise Center

“Be careful about any new apps you install on your smartphone, and about any links or files you open. Pay attention to the permissions accesses that the app asks for – they should not be unnecessary. For example, an alarm clock doesn’t need to know your geolocation and contacts at all.”.