St. PETERSBURG, 6 Apr-RIA Novosti. Despite the fact that phone scammers in St. Petersburg still practice calls on behalf of banks and mobile operators, they are increasingly trying to deceive people by providing "public services", and also do not disdain the sale of non-existent goods, told RIA Novosti investigator of the GSU regional Headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Lieutenant Colonel of Justice Sofia Chulkova.
"Of course, scammers continue to call citizens, posing as bank specialists or law enforcement officers who allegedly investigate transactions with their accounts. But new criminal schemes have also appeared: fraud under the guise of providing public services allegedly through the appropriate portal is now gaining momentum, " she said.
According to Chulkova, at the same time, when making calls to a mobile phone, the recognizable logo of Gosuslugi is displayed, which is also used when sending SMS messages.
"At the moment, a criminal scheme is developing with phishing links that allegedly lead to the portal of public services or to the "website" of a state institution. At the same time, fraudsters may have different goals — from gaining access to a citizen's personal data to deceive him or her, to using his or her personal account in other criminal schemes, since authorization through the public services portal is required on some Internet resources," the investigator of the GUMVD State Department for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region explained.
In order not to become a victim of fraud of this kind, she advised to pay attention to the fact that genuine mailings from the portal of public services are always of a notification nature and do not require any actions to switch to the Internet resource.
"Real employees of the Gosuslugi portal never make phone calls to its users," Chulkova reminded.
As the investigator noted, Internet scammers in St. Petersburg also practice such a method of deceiving people as selling non-existent goods through specialized sites. At the same time, the "product" can be anything — from products that have ceased to be imported into Russia, to household appliances that have been used.
"In my case there was a criminal case on the sale of video game consoles. Since their supply to Russia was then restricted, enterprising citizens developed a criminal scheme that allows them to sell goods without selling them, " Chulkova said.
According to her, after placing an ad for the sale of consoles on a profile site, scammers offered potential buyers to create electronic wallets for subsequent payment, offering help in registering them. Following these instructions, the victims received confirmation letters similar to the notifications that come when an e-wallet is officially created.
"In fact, it was an account controlled by fraudsters. Further, they deliberately escalated the atmosphere, simulating calls from a courier who is allegedly about to bring the ordered game consoles. At the same time, the victims received calls from a “top manager” who urged them to speed up the sale process by adding funds to their e-wallet in order to pay for the purchase themselves when it arrived. In reality, the "deal" ended with another call from the courier, who was allegedly late, " the agency's interlocutor said.
Chulkova also cited a situation when the object of attention of Internet scammers in St. Petersburg was a service for finding fellow travelers for a trip. According to her, victims of fraud were offered a phishing link to fill out a questionnaire, which is necessary for official registration of the trip. Since this questionnaire also contained information about the account from which its payment was debited, the corresponding amount went to the organizers of"transport services".
According to the police investigator, against the background of active opposition to Internet fraud on the part of law enforcement officers, this category of criminals will look for new ways to deceive people. So, it is already practiced to use imitation of the voice of close relatives or work supervisors to convince a potential victim to make certain financial transactions. Also, calls allegedly from mobile operators about the need to extend the contract for using a SIM card do not stop.
"The only way to protect yourself from this type of fraud is simply not to engage in conversations or correspondence with those who present themselves as a bank manager, a mobile phone specialist or a law enforcement officer. Perhaps this is not quite polite, but it is effective," Chulkova concluded.
Imaginary public services crowd "banks"
"Of course, scammers continue to call citizens, posing as bank specialists or law enforcement officers who allegedly investigate transactions with their accounts. But new criminal schemes have also appeared: fraud under the guise of providing public services allegedly through the appropriate portal is now gaining momentum, " she said.
According to Chulkova, at the same time, when making calls to a mobile phone, the recognizable logo of Gosuslugi is displayed, which is also used when sending SMS messages.
"At the moment, a criminal scheme is developing with phishing links that allegedly lead to the portal of public services or to the "website" of a state institution. At the same time, fraudsters may have different goals — from gaining access to a citizen's personal data to deceive him or her, to using his or her personal account in other criminal schemes, since authorization through the public services portal is required on some Internet resources," the investigator of the GUMVD State Department for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region explained.
In order not to become a victim of fraud of this kind, she advised to pay attention to the fact that genuine mailings from the portal of public services are always of a notification nature and do not require any actions to switch to the Internet resource.
"Real employees of the Gosuslugi portal never make phone calls to its users," Chulkova reminded.
Air sales
As the investigator noted, Internet scammers in St. Petersburg also practice such a method of deceiving people as selling non-existent goods through specialized sites. At the same time, the "product" can be anything — from products that have ceased to be imported into Russia, to household appliances that have been used.
"In my case there was a criminal case on the sale of video game consoles. Since their supply to Russia was then restricted, enterprising citizens developed a criminal scheme that allows them to sell goods without selling them, " Chulkova said.
According to her, after placing an ad for the sale of consoles on a profile site, scammers offered potential buyers to create electronic wallets for subsequent payment, offering help in registering them. Following these instructions, the victims received confirmation letters similar to the notifications that come when an e-wallet is officially created.
"In fact, it was an account controlled by fraudsters. Further, they deliberately escalated the atmosphere, simulating calls from a courier who is allegedly about to bring the ordered game consoles. At the same time, the victims received calls from a “top manager” who urged them to speed up the sale process by adding funds to their e-wallet in order to pay for the purchase themselves when it arrived. In reality, the "deal" ended with another call from the courier, who was allegedly late, " the agency's interlocutor said.
Chulkova also cited a situation when the object of attention of Internet scammers in St. Petersburg was a service for finding fellow travelers for a trip. According to her, victims of fraud were offered a phishing link to fill out a questionnaire, which is necessary for official registration of the trip. Since this questionnaire also contained information about the account from which its payment was debited, the corresponding amount went to the organizers of"transport services".
According to the police investigator, against the background of active opposition to Internet fraud on the part of law enforcement officers, this category of criminals will look for new ways to deceive people. So, it is already practiced to use imitation of the voice of close relatives or work supervisors to convince a potential victim to make certain financial transactions. Also, calls allegedly from mobile operators about the need to extend the contract for using a SIM card do not stop.
"The only way to protect yourself from this type of fraud is simply not to engage in conversations or correspondence with those who present themselves as a bank manager, a mobile phone specialist or a law enforcement officer. Perhaps this is not quite polite, but it is effective," Chulkova concluded.
