The methods of scammers to steal money from the population are becoming more and more sophisticated. Criminals not only develop illegal schemes for withdrawing funds from bank cards, but also integrate dummies—droppers—into their strategies. Most often, the least financially literate and at the same time trusting people are lured into scams. At risk are teenagers and pensioners. How criminal schemes work and how to avoid becoming a fraudster willy-nilly, Dmitry Ibragimov, Deputy Head of the Security Directorate of the Main Directorate of the Bank of Russia for the Central Federal District, told the participants of the webinar of the Federal Methodological Center for Financial Literacy of the System of General and Secondary Vocational Education of the National Research University Higher School of Economics.
According to him, often people themselves do not realize that they are participating in fraudulent activities and are already part of an organized criminal community. Most often, in order to avoid responsibility for transferring or cashing out funds from victims’ accounts and bank cards, scammers resort to the services of dummy persons—droppers.
Droppers, or drops (from the English drop - throw, drop), are dummies who are involved in illegal schemes for withdrawing funds from bank cards. This is the lowest caste in the system of scammers.
According to Dmitry Ibragimov, there are two types of droppers: “non-adjustable” and “adjustable”. The first type of dummy includes people who are aware of the criminal component of their activities and act voluntarily and intentionally. The second includes those who do not understand that they are in the trap of scammers and do not realize that they are participating in a scheme that violates the law. People are often involved in criminal business through deception and various legends, the expert states.
Droppers also differ in the type of use of bank cards: there are “cashers”, “transiters” and “fillers”. The first ones cash out money on their own. “Transitniks” accept funds into their own account, and then transfer them to third parties at the direction of the scammers. “Fillers” receive cash from other similar drops, deposit it into their account and send it along the chain to the “transit”.
There are different systems and ways to attract dummies. An invitation to the scheme can be regular advertisements where candidates are invited, for example, to an interesting job in the IT field and are offered a rapid increase in earnings. Often, these types of advertisements are posted in telegram channels, on forums in the depths of the dark side of the Internet and on special platforms. Occasionally, recruitment can even occur through personal contact between a participant in a criminal scheme and a future drop.
As a rule, such vacancies will not immediately describe the essence of the work: it can be presented as participation in an investment project, and the candidate will think until the very end that he is participating in legal activities.
After a future potential drop responds to a similar vacancy, a story begins about the working conditions, which includes: the contract, the risks that the candidate will bear, the timing of the work, interest on remuneration, etc. Often this “offer” looks simple and attractive.
When an almost established dropper gives his consent to “work”, the process of issuing bank cards begins. As a rule, there are not one, not two, but much more; these cards are not always designed for the drop itself. This is done to confuse law enforcement agencies. At the last stage of the work of the figurehead, funds are withdrawn by transferring them into cryptocurrency or into foreign currency; it can also be cashing out large sums for export to another region. In 80% of cases, money is cashed out by criminals within the first hour after the drop is credited to the account.
The main tools of droppers in their fraudulent scheme are a bank card and telephone numbers. Usually their number ranges from 10 to 50 cards in different banks. Droppers often issue premium cards, since the turnover of funds on the account is usually not limited, but the terms of service - limits on withdrawals from ATMs and other privileges - may be more profitable.
The record case identified by law enforcement agencies is 1608 cards in one drop.
Among such scammers, teenagers and pensioners most often inevitably fall into the category. The first ones are attracted by excitement and quick earnings. They usually fall for part-time jobs on Telegram. Older people are less informed about how banking technologies work, they are more trusting, and it is more difficult for them to detect a fraudulent scheme.
Dmitry Ibragimov emphasizes that with the help of drops, attackers cover up the traces of their illegal actions. However, in fact, the drops themselves thus become accomplices in the crime, even if they are not fully aware of what they are doing.
That is why it is important for citizens to be aware of schemes for involvement in illegal activities, because ignorance of the law does not exempt from responsibility: in the best case, a person’s accounts can be blocked for participating in a criminal scheme, in the worst case, criminal liability will follow.
When communicating with strangers by phone and in instant messengers, you should always keep a cool head, you should not give in to emotions and give access to your accounts to attackers, no matter how they convince and threaten, the Central Bank expert adds.
(с) https://economics.hse.ru/ecjourn/news/847434104.html
Who are droppers?
We all regularly hear about, and maybe even encountered, the activities of scammers. “We are often informed about how scammers operate, but today I wanted to go a little from the other side and talk not about how not to fall into their networks, but about how to accidentally avoid becoming a scammer yourself,” began Dmitry Ibragimov.According to him, often people themselves do not realize that they are participating in fraudulent activities and are already part of an organized criminal community. Most often, in order to avoid responsibility for transferring or cashing out funds from victims’ accounts and bank cards, scammers resort to the services of dummy persons—droppers.
Droppers, or drops (from the English drop - throw, drop), are dummies who are involved in illegal schemes for withdrawing funds from bank cards. This is the lowest caste in the system of scammers.
According to Dmitry Ibragimov, there are two types of droppers: “non-adjustable” and “adjustable”. The first type of dummy includes people who are aware of the criminal component of their activities and act voluntarily and intentionally. The second includes those who do not understand that they are in the trap of scammers and do not realize that they are participating in a scheme that violates the law. People are often involved in criminal business through deception and various legends, the expert states.
Droppers also differ in the type of use of bank cards: there are “cashers”, “transiters” and “fillers”. The first ones cash out money on their own. “Transitniks” accept funds into their own account, and then transfer them to third parties at the direction of the scammers. “Fillers” receive cash from other similar drops, deposit it into their account and send it along the chain to the “transit”.
How do droppers get involved in a criminal scheme?
The fraudulent scheme is a hierarchy built in the form of a pyramid, at the top of which is the organizer of the cash-out service. This service has so-called customers (fraudsters, call centers, drug dealers, etc.) - persons who have large amounts of money obtained by criminal means. This shadow business is always organized in detail, the entire chain is initially thought out and prepared: customers select drop managers, who, in turn, communicate with specific performers of the task - drops, explains Ibragimov.There are different systems and ways to attract dummies. An invitation to the scheme can be regular advertisements where candidates are invited, for example, to an interesting job in the IT field and are offered a rapid increase in earnings. Often, these types of advertisements are posted in telegram channels, on forums in the depths of the dark side of the Internet and on special platforms. Occasionally, recruitment can even occur through personal contact between a participant in a criminal scheme and a future drop.
As a rule, such vacancies will not immediately describe the essence of the work: it can be presented as participation in an investment project, and the candidate will think until the very end that he is participating in legal activities.
After a future potential drop responds to a similar vacancy, a story begins about the working conditions, which includes: the contract, the risks that the candidate will bear, the timing of the work, interest on remuneration, etc. Often this “offer” looks simple and attractive.
When an almost established dropper gives his consent to “work”, the process of issuing bank cards begins. As a rule, there are not one, not two, but much more; these cards are not always designed for the drop itself. This is done to confuse law enforcement agencies. At the last stage of the work of the figurehead, funds are withdrawn by transferring them into cryptocurrency or into foreign currency; it can also be cashing out large sums for export to another region. In 80% of cases, money is cashed out by criminals within the first hour after the drop is credited to the account.
The main tools of droppers in their fraudulent scheme are a bank card and telephone numbers. Usually their number ranges from 10 to 50 cards in different banks. Droppers often issue premium cards, since the turnover of funds on the account is usually not limited, but the terms of service - limits on withdrawals from ATMs and other privileges - may be more profitable.
The record case identified by law enforcement agencies is 1608 cards in one drop.
Who is the most likely to become a dropper?
At some stage of the fraud, the dummy may realize that he is participating in an illegal money withdrawal scheme and refuse or, on the contrary, agree to continue participating in it for the sake of profit. However, it also happens that people participate in financial transactions, but do not realize that they are in the trap of scammers.Among such scammers, teenagers and pensioners most often inevitably fall into the category. The first ones are attracted by excitement and quick earnings. They usually fall for part-time jobs on Telegram. Older people are less informed about how banking technologies work, they are more trusting, and it is more difficult for them to detect a fraudulent scheme.
Dmitry Ibragimov emphasizes that with the help of drops, attackers cover up the traces of their illegal actions. However, in fact, the drops themselves thus become accomplices in the crime, even if they are not fully aware of what they are doing.
That is why it is important for citizens to be aware of schemes for involvement in illegal activities, because ignorance of the law does not exempt from responsibility: in the best case, a person’s accounts can be blocked for participating in a criminal scheme, in the worst case, criminal liability will follow.
When communicating with strangers by phone and in instant messengers, you should always keep a cool head, you should not give in to emotions and give access to your accounts to attackers, no matter how they convince and threaten, the Central Bank expert adds.
(с) https://economics.hse.ru/ecjourn/news/847434104.html
