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Over the last eventful years, one thing keeps breaking through any news background: regular stories of people giving away all their (and sometimes borrowed) money simply because someone asked for it over the phone . Somehow, it turns out that not only the number of news stories about rampant fraud is growing, but also the amounts stolen (the latest record is 200 million rubles from Larisa Dolina) - although, it would seem, these trends should be mutually exclusive. This makes us think not only about fraud, its types, techniques and red flags, but also about the very nature of man and human relationships, the peculiarities of which are exploited in the most brazen way in plain sight. Fraudsters understood something about people before everyone else - and it's time for us to figure out what's going on.
Interestingly, compared to 2022, the share of women has increased by 11%, to 55.5%. Whereas in 2022, there were 0.8% more men among those who suffered from fraud. This can be interpreted in different ways: perhaps the fraudsters have chosen the quota of gullible men. Or perhaps men have become less willing to admit that they have become victims of fraud. The survey, after all, is not a “hard data”.
In the film about cybersecurity with Yandex 360, "How do they steal our money?" clinical psychologist and stress expert Ksenia Yagur cites other data: the average age of a fraudster's victim is 34 years. But this is data from 2019 - probably, the average age of a fraudster's victim is gradually increasing. It is also possible that this data was obtained in a different way, and therefore is not directly comparable.
According to the Central Bank, last year every tenth respondent suffered from the activities of cybercriminals. The most common form of fraud remains telephone fraud through calls and SMS messages. The number of cases of fraud using instant messengers has increased.
Interestingly, e-mail scammers have not gone away either. After all, Russians actively use e-mail. According to a recent study by NAFI and Yandex 360, 99% of Russians aged 20 to 55 use e-mail - 10% more than instant messengers. At the same time, in recent years, mail has not been a place where scammers live en masse: spam protection algorithms in mail are among the most reliable today. How often does any spam get through to e-mail?
But this does not mean that scammers cannot slip through there. They are also constantly developing their algorithms. Today, one of the most dangerous ways scammers use e-mail is to hijack State Services: scammers send a phishing request to “update data” on State Services, after which, if the user enters their data, they gain access to the account. Most people do not notice the small details that distinguish phishing emails, but as an ordinary user, I can say that for a long time now I have been relying not so much on myself as on the ability of modern mail services to filter spam with almost supernatural accuracy.
As the Central Bank writes, criminals often pose as employees of departments and send fake IDs via messengers, use social engineering methods and know how to evoke the desired emotions in a person.
The fraudster's tools are varied, but the main points are:
From a human nature perspective, the successes of cybercriminals rhyme in an interesting way with the successes of AI, not only because fraudsters are among the early adopters actively exploiting the capabilities of new powerful neural networks, but also because both processes shed light on human nature in a new, unexpected way: the ease of simulating human speech by something that does not have consciousness, as well as the ease of manipulating human behavior, makes you wonder whether people themselves are as complex as they imagine.
Thanks to AI and “thanks” to cybercriminals, it may turn out that individual human intelligence is not so powerful and significant in itself – and that, ultimately, there is nothing better left for humans to do than rely on each other, on our ability to collectively, with technological tools and social institutions, protect each other.
And if you think about it, this is good news.
Source
Statistics of cybercriminals' successes
According to a survey by the Bank of Russia, in 2023, the typical victim of cyber fraudsters was a working woman aged 25 to 44 with an average income and education level, living in a city. The study involved 395,000 people.Interestingly, compared to 2022, the share of women has increased by 11%, to 55.5%. Whereas in 2022, there were 0.8% more men among those who suffered from fraud. This can be interpreted in different ways: perhaps the fraudsters have chosen the quota of gullible men. Or perhaps men have become less willing to admit that they have become victims of fraud. The survey, after all, is not a “hard data”.
In the film about cybersecurity with Yandex 360, "How do they steal our money?" clinical psychologist and stress expert Ksenia Yagur cites other data: the average age of a fraudster's victim is 34 years. But this is data from 2019 - probably, the average age of a fraudster's victim is gradually increasing. It is also possible that this data was obtained in a different way, and therefore is not directly comparable.
According to the Central Bank, last year every tenth respondent suffered from the activities of cybercriminals. The most common form of fraud remains telephone fraud through calls and SMS messages. The number of cases of fraud using instant messengers has increased.
Interestingly, e-mail scammers have not gone away either. After all, Russians actively use e-mail. According to a recent study by NAFI and Yandex 360, 99% of Russians aged 20 to 55 use e-mail - 10% more than instant messengers. At the same time, in recent years, mail has not been a place where scammers live en masse: spam protection algorithms in mail are among the most reliable today. How often does any spam get through to e-mail?
But this does not mean that scammers cannot slip through there. They are also constantly developing their algorithms. Today, one of the most dangerous ways scammers use e-mail is to hijack State Services: scammers send a phishing request to “update data” on State Services, after which, if the user enters their data, they gain access to the account. Most people do not notice the small details that distinguish phishing emails, but as an ordinary user, I can say that for a long time now I have been relying not so much on myself as on the ability of modern mail services to filter spam with almost supernatural accuracy.
How to recognize a scammer
At the end of December, the Bank of Russia posted cards on Telegram with the most popular phrases by which one can recognize telephone scammers, including: “special or secure account”, “credit application submitted”, “dictate the code from the SMS message”, etc.As the Central Bank writes, criminals often pose as employees of departments and send fake IDs via messengers, use social engineering methods and know how to evoke the desired emotions in a person.
Psychological dynamics of the fraudster and the victim
People take scam calls seriously because of the threat of legal repercussions, concerns that their personal or financial information will be compromised, and the psychological tricks scammers use to create a sense of urgency or urgency.The fraudster's tools are varied, but the main points are:
- speed (you must make a decision quickly, your money is already being withdrawn from your account, please enter such and such numbers - and then everything will remain as before)
- manipulation of fear of government agencies, government institutions (“you are being called by the police, captain such and such”
- manipulation of good intentions, the desire to help, to understand (“help stop the theft, catch the scammers who want to take out a loan in your name”)
- forgery of telephone numbers, official email addresses, website pages, application forms.
- take a break, ask again, offer to call back, clarify the name, position/rank, place of work (police department), where the call is supposedly coming from.
- ask a friend for help - consult with someone you know about a situation in order to get an outside assessment, to dispel the illusion that scammers can cast on a person.
From a human nature perspective, the successes of cybercriminals rhyme in an interesting way with the successes of AI, not only because fraudsters are among the early adopters actively exploiting the capabilities of new powerful neural networks, but also because both processes shed light on human nature in a new, unexpected way: the ease of simulating human speech by something that does not have consciousness, as well as the ease of manipulating human behavior, makes you wonder whether people themselves are as complex as they imagine.
Thanks to AI and “thanks” to cybercriminals, it may turn out that individual human intelligence is not so powerful and significant in itself – and that, ultimately, there is nothing better left for humans to do than rely on each other, on our ability to collectively, with technological tools and social institutions, protect each other.
And if you think about it, this is good news.
Source
