Man
Professional
- Messages
- 2,965
- Reaction score
- 488
- Points
- 83
Phone scammers began to call subscribers more often using video calls. In practice, this scheme turns out to be more dangerous than others, since the victim does not understand until the last moment that he is talking to scammers - attackers use social engineering skills or find out the necessary information in roundabout ways that differ from the usual schemes. There are several reasons why scammers call their victims via video call.
Access the data on the screen
Most often, in this scheme, scammers do not need the owner's face, but another function that is available during a video call - screen sharing. You can turn it on, for example, in WhatsApp, so scammers usually choose this messenger for calls. Attackers call on behalf of a bank employee or Gosuslugi and, under various pretexts, ask the victim to open the appropriate application. In it, fraudsters can see data on the subscriber's cards, account balance, passport data and other information that they use for selfish purposes in the future.
The peculiarity of this scheme is that the victim herself is not asked to transfer any data, so she may not recognize that she is currently talking to telephone scammers. At the same time, attackers can convince the subscriber that the process is completely safe and only an automatic program or robot has access to screen recording.
Simulate the work of a bank employee
Scammers rarely work alone - usually scammers have their own "call center", which allows not only to massively call victims from different numbers by several people, but also to imitate the work of bank operators.
During normal telephone conversations, the subscriber may hear noise in the background (voices, sounds of phones, keyboards, etc.), which gives the impression that the call is really from the office. Video communication allows fraudsters to support their scheme visually: scammers call victims in official uniforms, and the space around them resembles the workplace of a bank employee.
Together with the bank's logo, which cybercriminals often put as a profile photo, many subscribers begin to believe that they are really getting calls from real bank employees. And after that, the scammers can only lure personal data from the victim or ask them to provide the code from the SMS.
Collect biometric data
Today, many services and organizations use biometrics: to log in to an account, perform actions, make payments, etc. And although it is difficult for scammers to conduct financial transactions in this way (for example, to perform actions in an ATM with biometrics support or pay with a "smile"), there are other scenarios. With the help of a face scan, scammers can try to log in to various services, for example, to the Public Services portal or other applications that support biometric login.
Inspire trust with personal presence
Another, albeit less common, reason for scammers to switch to video calls is an attempt to gain the trust of the victim. As practice shows, personal conversations are more likely to make the subscriber believe in the words of the attackers, since they see a specific person in front of them. Telephone scammers often recruit people with an appearance that disposes to others.
How to avoid falling for video call scams?
This scheme is more dangerous than others, as it imperceptibly gives scammers access to the victim's personal information. However, it is easier to recognize it - for your protection, it is enough:
Access the data on the screen
Most often, in this scheme, scammers do not need the owner's face, but another function that is available during a video call - screen sharing. You can turn it on, for example, in WhatsApp, so scammers usually choose this messenger for calls. Attackers call on behalf of a bank employee or Gosuslugi and, under various pretexts, ask the victim to open the appropriate application. In it, fraudsters can see data on the subscriber's cards, account balance, passport data and other information that they use for selfish purposes in the future.
The peculiarity of this scheme is that the victim herself is not asked to transfer any data, so she may not recognize that she is currently talking to telephone scammers. At the same time, attackers can convince the subscriber that the process is completely safe and only an automatic program or robot has access to screen recording.
Simulate the work of a bank employee
Scammers rarely work alone - usually scammers have their own "call center", which allows not only to massively call victims from different numbers by several people, but also to imitate the work of bank operators.
During normal telephone conversations, the subscriber may hear noise in the background (voices, sounds of phones, keyboards, etc.), which gives the impression that the call is really from the office. Video communication allows fraudsters to support their scheme visually: scammers call victims in official uniforms, and the space around them resembles the workplace of a bank employee.
Together with the bank's logo, which cybercriminals often put as a profile photo, many subscribers begin to believe that they are really getting calls from real bank employees. And after that, the scammers can only lure personal data from the victim or ask them to provide the code from the SMS.
Collect biometric data
Today, many services and organizations use biometrics: to log in to an account, perform actions, make payments, etc. And although it is difficult for scammers to conduct financial transactions in this way (for example, to perform actions in an ATM with biometrics support or pay with a "smile"), there are other scenarios. With the help of a face scan, scammers can try to log in to various services, for example, to the Public Services portal or other applications that support biometric login.
Inspire trust with personal presence
Another, albeit less common, reason for scammers to switch to video calls is an attempt to gain the trust of the victim. As practice shows, personal conversations are more likely to make the subscriber believe in the words of the attackers, since they see a specific person in front of them. Telephone scammers often recruit people with an appearance that disposes to others.
How to avoid falling for video call scams?
This scheme is more dangerous than others, as it imperceptibly gives scammers access to the victim's personal information. However, it is easier to recognize it - for your protection, it is enough:
- Do not answer calls from unknown numbers in messengers and do not switch to a video call.
- Remember that real employees of the bank, police, State Services or other organizations never make such calls.
- If you have any doubts, you need to end the call and, if necessary, call back to the official number of your bank or the structure to which the unknown people introduced themselves.
