As soon as you hear them, feel free to stop talking.
Telephone fraud has become a part of our lives, and, unfortunately, it is not yet possible to defeat it. At the same time, the amounts that gullible Russians send to deceivers amount to billions of rubles. According to the Central Bank, in 2022 alone, people lost more than 14 billion in this way. We have collected for you the most important trigger phrases, which, if you hear on the phone, you should immediately hang up.
We're not saying you can never get a call from a law enforcement officer. But a real investigator will summon you or ask you to come to his office at a real address in your city. That is why fake security officials, as a rule, say that they are in Moscow. If necessary, a real police officer will come to your home or work and show his identification to dispel doubts.
The safest tactic is to offer to come and show documents or to summon you to your place of residence. And hang up!
These could be stories about dubious transactions, attempts to obtain a loan on your behalf, and so on. It is important to remember that if you have any doubts, you can hang up and call your bank back to get complete and reliable information about your account status and loans. Better yet, come to a bank branch.
But scammers will try to keep you on the line for as long as possible, telling various legends. One of the most common: a special secret operation is carried out to catch fraudsters.
No matter how much you would like to take part in something like this and help expose the scammers, but, alas, such messages over the phone are a hundred percent scam. Even if someday they turn to you for help from the intelligence services or the FSB, it will be live, with the provision of all documents and in a real control building.
Only scammers will express concern and offer to perform their actions instead of visiting the office - calling out the received codes, card number and other personal data. The safest tactic is to promise to come to the bank branch yourself and hang up. Or call the bank's official technical support phone number.
Hung up, but the worm of doubt is still gnawing? Call the bank yourself using the phone number listed on the back of the card, or call the contact center of the agency whose employee the caller claimed to be.
One thing is worth knowing for sure: an illegal loan can only be canceled by a court! And if you have one, then the bank will also offer you to appeal the loan agreement in court. Bank employees can only block an account until the circumstances are clarified if they see suspicious actions. They will not offer you any manipulations. And even more so, law enforcement agencies will not deal with this.
To summarize: no “mirror” loans exist in nature. When we hear this wording, we hang up! The anxiety remains - we go to the bank (or call a public number) and find out about our debt obligations.
As a rule, after this call there may be another one from a fake policeman, then from the “bank security service” - and so on until you believe that they want to steal your money, and the person on the other end of the line is your best friend and protector .
Of course, the world is changing and something new appears regularly. But if you are not sure about something or don’t know something, it is always better to take a break, think it over and call the bank (or any other organization on behalf of which they spoke to you) back. But under no circumstances continue to communicate or transmit any confidential data. Any numbers can be easily faked, and calling by name and patronymic in our age of total data leakage should not in advance instill trust in the caller and his legend.
We hear a phrase about an application to change something incomprehensible, but very important and related to your money - we hang up (and, if we want, we check it ourselves).
As in other cases, scammers will try in every possible way to keep the interlocutor in the conversation, constantly talking to him and frightening him with various terrible consequences. It is important to understand that, although corruption has not been completely defeated, none of the real employees will ever risk hushing up the case of a person’s death in such a clumsy way. Therefore, as soon as you hear this phrase, feel free to hang up.
Of course, this is all a hoax and no one will take your number, no matter how many years you use it. Again, in this situation and with similar schemes, it would be reasonable to hang up, take a break and call your operator’s technical support number.
Then it turns out that your friend was hacked, but it will be too late. An alternative could be to simply ask for money out of the blue. The best way to protect yourself is to call the person who sent the message. But under no circumstances click on a dubious link. In general, a strange request plus an incomprehensible link is a serious reason to be wary.
Also, attackers often combine two methods of deception: first they hack into an email or instant messenger, and then use a message from it to prepare the victim for a call.
Having received a message from the boss in the style of “Stay in touch, a bank specialist / chief investigator will contact you now,” a person begins to trust the scammers’ call. They then proceed according to the schemes described above, scare you with issued loans and offer to “save” the money by transferring it to a secure account, asking you to name the codes you received, card details, and so on.
No matter how much you trust a person, it is better not to be afraid of seeming suspicious, but to call him back and clarify what he meant. Hacking of email, instant messengers or social network accounts has recently become widespread. You will be surprised how many educated, not old and high-ranking people fall for such tricks.
If you see any uncharacteristic messages, be wary and make sure that the person writing to you is the person he claims to be.
The material used data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Yekaterinburg and the Banki.ru portal.
(c) https://www.fontanka.ru/2023/10/20/72829658/
Telephone fraud has become a part of our lives, and, unfortunately, it is not yet possible to defeat it. At the same time, the amounts that gullible Russians send to deceivers amount to billions of rubles. According to the Central Bank, in 2022 alone, people lost more than 14 billion in this way. We have collected for you the most important trigger phrases, which, if you hear on the phone, you should immediately hang up.
1. “Investigator Ivan Petrov is talking to you, don’t hang up!”
Some investigator, major, police colonel or detective is present in almost all telephone fraud schemes. A confident and assertive voice immediately begins to frighten and put pressure, not allowing you to come to your senses. The caller will resist your call back to his office using a landline number and will talk about the need to communicate via a special secure communication channel (as if you are behind enemy lines and people’s lives are at stake). For some reason, the super communication channel looks like a regular call from a cell number or via instant messenger.We're not saying you can never get a call from a law enforcement officer. But a real investigator will summon you or ask you to come to his office at a real address in your city. That is why fake security officials, as a rule, say that they are in Moscow. If necessary, a real police officer will come to your home or work and show his identification to dispel doubts.
The safest tactic is to offer to come and show documents or to summon you to your place of residence. And hang up!
2. “This is the bank security service.”
Not a single bank employee (let alone the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, which does not work with individuals at all) will call to warn about dubious transactions and transfers. It's just not their job. As a rule, attackers try to intimidate, rush or exert pressure in order to turn off the logical thinking of the “client”.These could be stories about dubious transactions, attempts to obtain a loan on your behalf, and so on. It is important to remember that if you have any doubts, you can hang up and call your bank back to get complete and reliable information about your account status and loans. Better yet, come to a bank branch.
But scammers will try to keep you on the line for as long as possible, telling various legends. One of the most common: a special secret operation is carried out to catch fraudsters.
3. “Don’t tell anyone about this call, there’s a secret operation going on!”
The stories may differ from each other in details, but the essence is the same: somewhere, evil scammers are trying to steal your money, and in order to stop them, you supposedly need to perform a series of transactions. For example, withdraw money and put it in another account. Moreover, the operation is so secret that you cannot tell anyone about it.No matter how much you would like to take part in something like this and help expose the scammers, but, alas, such messages over the phone are a hundred percent scam. Even if someday they turn to you for help from the intelligence services or the FSB, it will be live, with the provision of all documents and in a real control building.
4. “Right now someone is trying to take out a loan on you!”
The purpose of such messages is to cause panic and force them to perform a series of actions in order to “protect” the money, and in fact, give it to scammers. The bank won't actually ask you to do anything. If an operation seems suspicious to him, he can block it, but he certainly won’t call and warn.Only scammers will express concern and offer to perform their actions instead of visiting the office - calling out the received codes, card number and other personal data. The safest tactic is to promise to come to the bank branch yourself and hang up. Or call the bank's official technical support phone number.
5. “To save money from scammers, you need to transfer it to a secure account.”
Bank employees will never say such a phrase, nor will they require you to give the code or card number that came to your phone. In case of any suspicion, they can simply block all movements on the account and the card itself until you come to the branch with your passport.Hung up, but the worm of doubt is still gnawing? Call the bank yourself using the phone number listed on the back of the card, or call the contact center of the agency whose employee the caller claimed to be.
6. It is necessary to apply for a “mirror” loan
This is another common legend by which a person is forced to take out an online loan and transfer money to criminals. This is supposedly necessary in order to neutralize the loan taken on you by the scammers. The expectation is that a person will be frightened by a sudden debt and will behave inappropriately to the situation.One thing is worth knowing for sure: an illegal loan can only be canceled by a court! And if you have one, then the bank will also offer you to appeal the loan agreement in court. Bank employees can only block an account until the circumstances are clarified if they see suspicious actions. They will not offer you any manipulations. And even more so, law enforcement agencies will not deal with this.
To summarize: no “mirror” loans exist in nature. When we hear this wording, we hang up! The anxiety remains - we go to the bank (or call a public number) and find out about our debt obligations.
7. “An application has been received to change the financial number”
The phone scammer poses as a bank employee and asks questions that imply that someone is manipulating your account or what is called a “financial number” (there is no such term at all). The goal is to steal card details, hack your personal account and steal money.As a rule, after this call there may be another one from a fake policeman, then from the “bank security service” - and so on until you believe that they want to steal your money, and the person on the other end of the line is your best friend and protector .
Of course, the world is changing and something new appears regularly. But if you are not sure about something or don’t know something, it is always better to take a break, think it over and call the bank (or any other organization on behalf of which they spoke to you) back. But under no circumstances continue to communicate or transmit any confidential data. Any numbers can be easily faked, and calling by name and patronymic in our age of total data leakage should not in advance instill trust in the caller and his legend.
We hear a phrase about an application to change something incomprehensible, but very important and related to your money - we hang up (and, if we want, we check it ourselves).
8. “Mom, I hit a man.”
It's amazing how popular this legend is still. A frightened, crying, unintelligible voice from someone else's number, which is replaced by the demanding talk of a fake policeman. There is no time to think, and your hand is already reaching out to take out your stash and hand it to the courier standing on the doorstep... Instead, hang up the phone and dial your relative - most likely, he will be very surprised that he hit someone.As in other cases, scammers will try in every possible way to keep the interlocutor in the conversation, constantly talking to him and frightening him with various terrible consequences. It is important to understand that, although corruption has not been completely defeated, none of the real employees will ever risk hushing up the case of a person’s death in such a clumsy way. Therefore, as soon as you hear this phrase, feel free to hang up.
9. “You need to renew your number”
A relatively new scheme in which the scammer poses as an employee of the mobile operator whose number the victim uses. Offers to renew (prolong) the old number. As if otherwise it would be given to someone else. All you need to do is name the code you received, which turns out to be, for example, from your account on State Services.Of course, this is all a hoax and no one will take your number, no matter how many years you use it. Again, in this situation and with similar schemes, it would be reasonable to hang up, take a break and call your operator’s technical support number.
10. “Please vote for your friend’s niece/daughter!”
Usually this or a similar text is sent in instant messengers. A text or voice message comes from your friend or acquaintance asking you to vote for your child. Following is the link. By clicking on it, you may lose your account. You may be redirected to a site that will require you to enter personal data, password, card number, and so on.Then it turns out that your friend was hacked, but it will be too late. An alternative could be to simply ask for money out of the blue. The best way to protect yourself is to call the person who sent the message. But under no circumstances click on a dubious link. In general, a strange request plus an incomprehensible link is a serious reason to be wary.
Also, attackers often combine two methods of deception: first they hack into an email or instant messenger, and then use a message from it to prepare the victim for a call.
Having received a message from the boss in the style of “Stay in touch, a bank specialist / chief investigator will contact you now,” a person begins to trust the scammers’ call. They then proceed according to the schemes described above, scare you with issued loans and offer to “save” the money by transferring it to a secure account, asking you to name the codes you received, card details, and so on.
No matter how much you trust a person, it is better not to be afraid of seeming suspicious, but to call him back and clarify what he meant. Hacking of email, instant messengers or social network accounts has recently become widespread. You will be surprised how many educated, not old and high-ranking people fall for such tricks.
If you see any uncharacteristic messages, be wary and make sure that the person writing to you is the person he claims to be.
Conclusion
Telephone scam schemes are constantly changing; scammers adapt new legends to suit the current agenda. But there are also common signs: the desire to scare the interlocutor, not to allow him to come to his senses and hang up, to keep him in contact with scammers by any means, not allowing others to destroy the legend (even to the point of prohibiting communication with bank employees, police and relatives).The material used data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Yekaterinburg and the Banki.ru portal.
(c) https://www.fontanka.ru/2023/10/20/72829658/
