Mobile scammers. Additional protection methods

Phone scams are a common scam today. Almost half of the population faces it Russian Federation. Therefore, it is important to know the specifics of telephone scams, what schemes and responsibilities exist for this. It is important to understand in a timely manner that the call is coming from a scammer, to react correctly and contact the authorities for help.

Features of telephone fraud

Telephone scams appeared at a time when humanity was just getting acquainted with telephone. At that time, only owners of landline phones fell for the bait of scammers. Today, such scams have spread to almost all people, since life has become impossible without a mobile phone.

But where did this type of fraud come from? It turns out that such schemes are being developed in prisons and colonies. Proof of this were multiple investigations, during which it was discovered that most of those imprisoned for certain crimes use cellular communications to take money from civilians.

Of course, mobile phones are prohibited in colonies and prisons. However, this law does not prevent convicted persons from acquiring them. During numerous searches, mobile phones are confiscated every day from prisoners, which fall into their hands in different ways. It has also been recorded that the bulk of telephone calls with fraudulent intentions come from prisons.

During the daytime, strict control is maintained over convicts, but at night and early in the morning it weakens, because the “prisoners” must rest. It is at this time that the evil intent of criminals is most often carried out.

Today it is possible to use GSM jammers mobile communications, making it impossible to make calls from a certain area. Such silencers are actively installed in those places of deprivation of liberty that are located at a considerable distance from the local population.

Why only there? The fact is that silencers cannot cover a small area; they silence large areas. Consequently, villages, towns and even cities are affected. For this reason, in prisons and colonies, cellular communications are not interrupted by GSM jammers.

One more interesting fact one can consider the existence of special instructions for telephone scams. Thus, during searches, entire schemes and guidelines for action are discovered. They indicate phrases and words that need to be said to the victim of fraud. There is a list of questions that can be asked from the subscriber and a corresponding list of answers that are well thought out.

All words are in many ways similar to the phrases of operators of various companies, reference and information services. It follows from this that convicts make calls to these services and learn the art of speaking correctly.

Prisoners in the colony have practically nothing to do. They have a lot of free time to read literature. Many of them prefer psychology, thanks to which they carefully study the behavioral characteristics of people. Which, in principle, then helps them in their crimes. The convicts cleverly put a person into a state of stupor or stress and keep him in this position until they achieve their goal.

Why do scammers target your phone number? In reality, everything is very simple. They can dial any combination of numbers or use a specific database. The database is easy to assemble. The scammer calls a random number, introduces himself as an employee of a mobile phone service, a bank, any company that gives away prizes, etc.

During the conversation he finds out your Family status, place of work, last name, first name, patronymic, etc. After a certain time, he calls from another phone number and commits an act of crime.

Information can be obtained from drinking buddies, neighbors, work colleagues, relatives and other people. In addition, you can read the advertisements that you gave to the newspaper or posted on the Internet, go to your page on in social networks. Additional information about Internet fraud, as it is closely related to telephone fraud.

It is very difficult to identify a criminal using a phone number, because a SIM card can be bought even without a passport or registered in someone else’s, fictitious name.

Common Schemes

1. Grief in the family. A police representative calls you on the phone and explains that your son (brother, nephew, sister, father, etc.) was taken to the police station for a minor crime. And if you do not want your relative to go to prison, you need to immediately (before a criminal case is opened) pay a certain amount of money. But, since the investigator does not want to advertise the bribe, the amount should be transferred not at the police station, but in any other place. That is, you need to deliver the money to the exact location indicated.
2. Get a prize. A radio presenter may call you (referred to by the real name of one of the presenters of the radio station in your city). He solemnly announces that the big prize went to you, since your phone number was provided by your telecom operator. You are given a telephone number to call back, where you listen to the terms of the competition or lottery draw. But to receive a prize, you need to provide your personal information (date of birth, full name). But that's not all. It turns out that you need to go through the registration procedure on the official website and receive a winner code. This is where it all begins. To activate the card, you need to make an express payment and provide the prize department with the card number so that they can activate it.
3. From unknown number you can receive SMS notification, allegedly from a relative, asking you to top up your number.
4. You are offered a profitable deal or participation in promotions, lotteries etc. In this case, you need to dial a certain code with a special combination on your phone. It seems harmless. In fact, the combination facilitates the withdrawal of money from your account.
5. You are invited to participate in a major quiz, the conditions of which are sending SMS. In fact, it says at the bottom (in very small print) that the cost per text message is a minimum of $1. As a result, you send a bunch of messages, losing your money in the hope of winning big.
6. Giveaways. A very exciting “game” for gambling people. You receive a message that if you send money to a certain account, you will receive 2 times more back. You first send 50 rubles, receive 100, then 100, 200 are returned. But when the sending amount increases several times, nothing is returned to you.
7. Acquaintance. Such SMS come mainly to males from girls. An acquaintance is made, they send you photos, etc. Communication occurs only through messages. As a result, after a while you notice that there is no money in your account, since the messages were paid and very expensive.
8. Refund. You receive an SMS stating that your account has been replenished by 100 rubles (for example). You wonder who could do such a thing! A few minutes later, an unfamiliar number calls you and tells you that he completely accidentally topped up your phone number instead of another (an error in one digit). At the same time they demand a refund. You, as a decent person, do this through the Mobile Transfers service. As a result, you lose what you have without even checking the balance of your number first.
9. Support. They are calling you from here, that is, from your mobile operator. They may tell you that the frequency of communication transmission is changing, your number has been blocked, you need to switch to a different tariff, etc. But the main thing is that all restoration services are paid.
10. You receive an SMS stating that you are a subscriber to a service., for example, to obtain a weather forecast. If you do not want to receive such information, you need to write an SMS to a 4-digit number with a specific word. When you send a message, money is withdrawn from you.
11. You pick up the phone or call back to an unfamiliar number, and the money is written off at this moment. And it’s not the mobile operator’s account, but the swindler’s.

Find out useful information about such fraud schemes from our video:

New types of telephone fraud

The two most recent scams:

You won a car. Usually an SMS notification is sent in which you are invited to visit, supposedly, the official website. You can also call back using another phone number. Everything seems to be correct. But then you are asked to top up the company’s account in order to verify the authenticity of the phone number. In this case, you will receive a special code. When it is entered, the money is transferred to the scammers’ account.

Bank card blocking. You receive a message on your phone stating that your card has been blocked. To unblock you, you are asked to call the specified number. Allegedly, the operator explains to you that there was a failure in the system and in order to restore your card you need to give its full number and, accordingly, a PIN code. Next, the entire amount is withdrawn from your card.

How to understand that a scammer is calling

We have listed the bulk of fraud schemes. But the trouble is that new frauds are being invented every day, which no one knows about. Therefore, pay special attention to the following signs:

1. Unfamiliar or hidden number phone.
2. Suddenness and the requirement for quick decision making.
3. Excessive self-confidence.
4. Persistence.
5. Incomprehensibility and vagueness of answers to your questions.
6. Excessive ingratiation and persuasion.
7. Increased nervousness after your questions.
8. Please send money.
9. Interest in your confidential and personal data.

How to respond to calls

1. The most important and first rule is to keep your emotions under control. If you are told about a big win, do not rejoice, since even a positive emotional outburst contributes to stupor.
2. You can't make any decision right away. So tell the caller that you will call back after careful consideration. If they tell you that the matter is urgent and you need an answer right away, refuse the tempting offer. This indicates a scam.
3. Do not provide your personal information. If this is a bank, then the employees know your information. Do not talk about bank cards, do not give PIN codes or other confidential information.
4. It happens that a fraudster introduces himself as an employee of a clinic, police, bank, or insurance agency. In this case, be sure to check his full name, position, management contacts, and official website information. You can even ask to call Sergei Nikolaevich (fictitious name) on the phone. If this is a fraudster, then he will hesitate.
5. If you are announced as a winner, search the Internet for the specified giveaways and read them and the reviews. Perhaps someone has already found themselves in this situation.
6. Do not transfer money under any circumstances!
7. If these are not scammers, then they should provide a number hotline, where you can call back.

Where to contact

If you have fallen into the network of telephone scammers or suspect a caller of this, immediately contact the nearest police station or call 102! You can leave a corresponding application on the official website (Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation).

Management “K” will look into this matter. In the application you need to indicate your details and phone number. And also the scammer’s phone number, the required amount, a list of questions that were asked to you and all the other information about the caller known to you.

What are the responsibilities?

Quite often it becomes impossible to initiate a criminal case for (telephone) fraud. The fact is that scammers act very cunningly. They usually do not specify a specific amount for the transfer of funds and do not put significant pressure on the person to take action.

But swindlers act covertly, using psychological manipulation. This is why victims most often make their own decisions about transferring money. And the person himself bears responsibility for such actions.

But, if certain actions were detected on the part of the fraudster, then he is liable under Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. If the crime was committed by one person, then the punishment includes fines, a certain period of correctional labor or imprisonment for up to 2 years. If a crime is committed by a group of persons, liability includes imprisonment for up to 10 years.

The amount of the fine and the prison term depend on the scale of the fraud and the amount of damage caused. Therefore, it is impossible to say specifically what punishment the scammers will suffer. The judicial process is carried out at the individual level.

Treat calls from strangers with full responsibility and seriousness. Do not believe the first people you meet and do not tell other people about your acquaintances. Do not post personal information on social networks for public viewing. And then you will be able to avoid telephone scams!

Get a lawyer's answer in 5 minutes

Telephone fraud is one of the most common crimes that emerged in the 20th century.

How do criminals use the phone to extort money from users?

Or, in modern terms, how do telephone scammers scam us out of money? Helpful information for all subscribers - further.

The telephone, as soon as it appeared, became a tool of criminal activity. Telephone fraud especially began to flourish after mobile phones came into use.

According to international statistics, the annual total losses of subscribers and telecom operators amount to approximately 10-40 billion dollars.

With the advent of the landline telephone, scammers began to come up with schemes to scam owners of landline devices.

Basically, the following scheme worked: a call was received on the subscriber’s home phone. An unfamiliar voice claimed that trouble had happened to his close relative: he had hit a man and he needed to pay the police.

People have been warned about this scheme many times in newspapers and on TV, but unfortunately it still works to this day. They usually call at night, supposedly from the police.

At first, a stranger spoke to the subscriber, offering to pay off the police very a large sum. Then the scammers began to work more sophisticatedly.

The son called the parent from the police and, crying, described the situation. Then the policeman picked up the phone and clearly explained what to do, and in the shortest possible time.

The attackers first make inquiries, so they know that the owner of this number has a son who drives a car.

If you find yourself in this situation, ask the fake cop to pass the phone to your son. Ask him a question that only he can know the answer to.

For example, when was the last time you visited your grandmother or others. This is where the “divorce” will most likely end.

The second option is to call your son on his mobile and make sure that everything is okay with him.

The situation with mobile fraud is familiar to many. In this case the account mobile number is being attacked by scammers, but most users don’t even notice it.

If the balance decreases by a small amount, subscribers often simply do not pay attention to it. But some still understand that they have become victims of a criminal act.

What schemes have the scammers come up with? Below are the most common options for deceiving mobile users:

What to do if criminals withdrew money from your phone through a social network?

Immediately take screenshots of duplicate pages or pop-ups. Next, contact law enforcement agencies with your account statements.

It would be useful to contact mobile operators, because the user was not notified that the service was paid, so he could accuse the operator of withdrawing funds without his consent.

You can withdraw money from your card; there are several ways to do this.. However, in all cases, the fraudster needs to find out the CVC code, which is located on the reverse side, or the confirmation code for a particular payment transaction.

By misleading the cardholder with messages about blocking the number or in another way, attackers receive a confirmation code, as well as access to money.

Do not tell anyone your confirmation code or CVC code, otherwise you risk losing the money stored on the card.

If the bank has not ensured reliable security of funds on the cards of its clients, fraudsters may well withdraw money using the credit card number. True, in this case all the blame lies with the bank and the client will be compensated for the damage.

Illegal withdrawal of funds is also possible if the payment instrument number is linked to a mobile phone number.

Fraudsters often use unusual schemes. For example, when purchasing a product, they transfer extra money to the buyer. A few minutes later, the scammers ask for this money back.

The victim sends them a transaction confirmation code to transfer funds back. But the attackers steal all the money on the card.

Do not trust unknown persons. If you need to perform an operation, then do it yourself.

If the credit card is connected to the phone and the online banking system, then this is possible.

Using a mobile phone, criminals obtain card details, after which they unauthorizedly transfer funds using their own phone.

However, such crimes cannot be called frequent, because banks regularly update their security systems.

This is cheaper than losing your reputation and paying damages to your clients.

Checking a mobile phone number for fraud is possible, and absolutely free. This process has certain features, but is accessible to everyone.

You just need to familiarize yourself with the list of sites that offer such a service on the Internet.

The most well-known sites where you can check a phone number for fraud are:

In addition, some mobile operators (for example, MTS) launch special services that allow you to find out the cost of a call to a specific phone number.

If you fall for the trick of telephone scammers, then first of all, report the fact of the crime to your operator and indicate the phone number from which you received the SMS.

When transferring money to third parties, try writing a statement to the mobile operator demanding a refund.

However, there are no guarantees that your money will be returned to you.

Sometimes operators return, but on the condition that the transfers were made within the same network.

If swindlers demand money for the release or ransom of relatives, then you can report this to law enforcement agencies.

In conclusion, it is worth adding that it is not often possible to punish scammers, since they often change phone numbers. Subscribers must be extremely careful and not disclose their data to third parties.

Video: Telephone scam

Modern technology has certainly made our lives much easier and more interesting. Gadgets, cellular communications, the Internet and other benefits of civilization have become so firmly established in the everyday life of most modern people that sometimes it is even unclear how they managed without all this a couple of decades ago.

But this phenomenon also has a negative side. Technologies provide not only free access to any information, but also create conditions for the emergence of new ideas from swindlers and fraudsters. One of the most widespread types of criminal acts is telephone fraud. High-tech crime schemes range from the most primitive to complex and multi-stage, and the amounts that victims of dishonest telephone scammers lose annually amount to billions of rubles.

At the same time, the investigation of telephone fraud is significantly complicated by the fact that the criminal can act at a distance, being in another city or even country. According to law enforcement agencies, even citizens already serving sentences in prison for other crimes may turn out to be telephone scammers or their accomplices.

New types of fraud using cellular communication appear quite often. But long-existing deception schemes are still operating surprisingly successfully. Even the most cautious mobile phone owner can become a victim of a crime such as telephone fraud.

Of course, it is very difficult to completely stop such criminals. But the best prevention of telephone fraud, which can significantly reduce crime in this area, is attentiveness, the calmest possible reaction to calls and messages from unfamiliar phone numbers and maximum awareness of the methods used by such criminals.

Are there ways to avoid falling prey to telephone scammers, and is it possible to legally punish those who commit crimes using mobile communications? First, let's look at the most common and well-known types of telephone fraud today.

“Mom, I’m in trouble!...”

The most famous and, perhaps, widespread way of deceiving citizens and embezzling quite large sums of money is asking for help on behalf of friends or relatives. Surely most mobile phone owners have received SMS messages of similar content at least once.

A more complex scheme is a call from a person who may introduce himself as a police officer or prosecutor. In most cases, the “policeman” reports that one of the relatives was involved in an accident with serious consequences, and in order to avoid litigation and liability, it is necessary to transfer a certain amount of money.

Concern for loved ones, excitement, surprise - this is what criminals planning to commit fraud are counting on. With phone calls or messages for help, scammers most often manage to deceive the most gullible part of the population - the elderly.

Sometimes scammers simply act at random, calling random subscribers. But there are types of telephone fraud when scammers purposefully watch wealthy people, collecting information about them and their friends or relatives. In this case, the versions invented by the criminals can be incredibly coherent and convincing. To trick victims of fraud into believing and transferring money to scammers’ accounts, telephone criminals use various methods, using high-tech devices, for example, to imitate the voice or process the photo of those on whose behalf they are calling.

Call or message to paid numbers

The method of telephone deception, when the victim of a scam tries to call a paid phone number, is rightfully considered the oldest and most proven scheme. The simplest one is that the person gets a call from unknown number, but the call ends abruptly or is dropped after dialing. When trying to call back, the subscriber either receives long beeps in response, or “communicates” with the answering machine turned on. In both cases, the call is paid, and money from the account of the curious mobile phone owner is transferred to the account of the scammer.

Fraud by telephone numbers, for which you have to pay for calls or messages, is used very often and in a variety of variations. For example, unscrupulous people send SMS with a “lucrative” offer to send a message in order to receive a small amount “as a gift” into their account. Most often, those who respond to this are not only not replenished, but the SMS sent costs several times more than the amount of the offered “gift”.

The content of SMS with requests to call a specified number can be very different: a plea to help a sick child, an offer to get acquainted, to change the mobile phone tariff to a more favorable one, greetings and congratulations from supposedly familiar people, etc... Sometimes scammers turn to passers-by on the street with a request borrow a cell phone to “make a call.” After one or several calls, a responsive mobile phone owner discovers that the balance is significantly less.

Top up someone else's phone

Most often we are talking about a request from a “friend” or “child” with a request to top up the account of the number from which the message came. Another option is a call or SMS from a stranger who “accidentally made a mistake” while replenishing the balance of his mobile phone, putting money not on his own number, but on the subscriber’s number. And now ask to “return” the funds by topping up his “mobile phone” account. Of course, the money with which the “victim of deception” replenishes the balance of an imaginary friend or “inattentive subscriber” immediately ends up in the fraudster’s account.

Raffles, prizes, lotteries

No less often, cases of telephone fraud are associated with various “advantageous offers” that thousands of citizens receive daily via SMS. Drawing of a valuable prize from mobile operator, a bank, a representative office of a well-known trademark, an announcement about a sale or purchases at an extremely favorable price... And for all this it is proposed to “just” deposit a small amount of money into the account specified in the message. Of course, no one will win anything except the scammers themselves, who as a result will receive a decent profit from thousands of gullible people who transferred money.

Receive funds from someone else's account cell phone scammers can do it in other ways. The most common of them is an offer to call back or send a return message to take part in a prize draw. The number is paid.

Problems with a bank card (account)

The most primitive telephone scams involving bank cards or accounts are designed to exploit a person’s fear of losing their savings and begin in much the same way: an SMS from the “bank” is sent to the phone, or scammers call, introducing themselves as its employees. The information can be the most unpleasant, for example, that a bank card is blocked or there is a loan debt. In the best case, to clarify the situation, the owner of the phone is asked to call the “bank” operator. Those who call back after this end up on a paid number and lose a large amount from their mobile phone account.

Much worse consequences occur if, at the request of the “bank,” the phone owner tells the scammers the card number and its PIN code, password for “ Personal account» Internet versions of the bank, personal data and other information that should be kept secret. In such a situation, money from the bank account of the defrauded subscriber actually disappears without a trace.

Code in message

A relatively new telephone scam is associated with online stores selling virtual content, where you can pay for goods by entering a code sent to the buyer’s mobile phone.

Fraudsters create a website with paid access to various melodies, pictures and other services. After this, the telephone numbers of random subscribers are entered as the payer. SMS containing an access code are sent to the specified numbers; the scammers can only call the recipients. Usually, victims of scammers are told that a certain code has been sent to their number by mistake, and they are asked to simply dictate this code. Having learned the access code, scammers “pay” for the content on their website by transferring money from the mobile phone account of a gullible subscriber.

The peculiarity of this method of deception is that even if telephone criminals can be found, it is almost impossible to prove the fact of fraud. The only way to protect yourself from such innovative deception is that if you find yourself in a similar situation, under no circumstances tell callers any numbers or codes received in the message.

How to understand that a scammer is calling

The methods of “taking money from the population” listed above are among the most common. But this list of scams is far from exhaustive. Every day new types of telephone scams arise. And yet, they all have common signs that should at least alert you and force you to more carefully analyze the call or message you receive:

• An unknown, hidden or unfamiliar number from which a call is made or a message is sent.
• A special way of communicating. The main weapon of telephone scammers is surprise. “Urgent”, “quickly”, “immediately”, “I’ll explain later”, “need faster” – these are common words and expressions from the vocabulary of such criminals. People who commit telephone fraud behave very confidently, they can put pressure, insist, or, on the contrary, try to win over the subscriber by any means. The main task in this case is to catch the future victim of telephone fraud by surprise, not to give him time to think, and not to allow him to doubt.
• There are no clear, direct answers to the questions. Literally two or three clarifying or personal questions can confuse a telephone swindler and make him nervous.
• A request or even a requirement to provide any secret information or personal data: number and PIN code bank card, personal information, website passwords, etc.
• "Free cheese" It is, of course, pleasant to receive news of winning the competition. Especially if you don’t participate in any competitions. Prizes, lucrative offers, gifts for which you need to “pay extra,” “make a deposit,” or otherwise transfer a sum of money are one of the signs of telephone fraud.

How to respond to attempts to deceive

1. When receiving alarming calls or messages, the main thing is to try to calm down and not make decisions right away. It is better to immediately tell the caller that you need time to think about everything.
2. Golden rule: never, under any circumstances, disclose your personal data or confidential information to anyone: bank card PIN code, account number, login and password for pages on social networks, Internet sites, etc.
3. Ask questions. If the caller introduces himself as a police officer, bank officer, clinic doctor, insurance agent, the first thing to do is try to find out as much information as possible about the interlocutor. Simple questions, for example, the name and position of the caller, which police department, bank or insurance agency they are calling from, contact details of the head of the organization, how to find the official website, etc. will not confuse a real employee, but will make scammers nervous.
4. Before responding to messages or calls from “relatives” or “friends,” you should try to call the person on whose behalf the message came, or one of his loved ones with whom he may currently be.
5. Take the time to search the Internet for information about competitions and sweepstakes that people are encouraged to participate in via SMS. Often deceived participants in such offers leave warning reviews on forums.
6. Do not rush to transfer or give money. A requirement to deposit a sum of money, for example, as a deposit for a prize draw or to replenish a bank’s “control” account should immediately raise red flags.

Is it possible to punish criminals

From all of the above, we can draw a reasonable conclusion: it is quite possible to protect yourself from telephone fraud by being vigilant and adequately assessing the information received from a suspicious number. But if a person nevertheless becomes a victim of scammers, is there any point in turning to law enforcement agencies for help, and is there an article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for telephone fraud?

By the legislation of our country, a telephone scam is considered a crime and falls under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, that is, “Fraud.” For a citizen who single-handedly commits telephone fraud, articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provide for punishment by a fine, correctional labor, or, depending on the scale of the crime committed and the damage caused, an actual prison term of up to two years. For a group of fraudsters, the amount of fines and sentences are, accordingly, significantly higher.

Who will help the victim?

It's hard to argue that The best way protect yourself - ignore suspicious calls or messages. But if telephone fraud is not stopped, then sooner or later scammers will be able to deceive the more gullible. Therefore, when trying to commit such a crime, you should not remain indifferent.

The first thing you need to know to stop phone fraud is where to go to prevent criminal activities. The most logical thing to do is to immediately call the police and report the suspicious message (call). It would also be a good idea to report telephone fraud to the subscriber service or technical support service of the cellular company from whose number you received the message (call) from the scammers. If the operator values ​​​​its own reputation, most likely, a decision will be made to block the suspicious number.

But what to do if criminals still manage to commit telephone fraud? Where to go for help?

In a situation where a subscriber has transferred a sum of money to scammers within one mobile network, there is a chance if you quickly contact the operator to get your money back. To do this, you will need to submit an application to the customer department for the return of this amount. Unfortunately, if the scammer’s number belonged to another operator, it is impossible to return the money by transfer.

You should also immediately contact the nearest police station to report the fraud. It will need to describe in detail all the circumstances: when and from what phone number the message came (the call was made), who called, what name, surname, position the fraudster introduced himself to, the essence and details of the conversation or message, the information that was required to be provided.

After the application is accepted and registered, a decision is made to initiate a criminal case within 10-30 days. But there is a high probability that this will be denied for some reason. However, there is still a point in filing an application. In case of repeated similar cases of fraud or if the swindlers are detained, the fact of filing this application may be taken into account by the investigator and (or) the court.

The development of cellular communications was not only a breakthrough in the field information technologies, but also opened up new opportunities for scammers.

Unfortunately, telephone operators they are still silent about this, and law enforcement agencies have not had time to develop a unified strategy to combat this type of offense. Because in some cases, telephone fraud does not fall under a specific article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. To clarify the situation at least a little, it is necessary to consider the most popular types of telephone fraud.

Call me

Using mobile communications does not always lead to breaking the law. Therefore, various companies often take advantage of this, making money on the ignorance of citizens. Such schemes are often used by credit institutions, which always forget to tell their borrowers about the amount of penalties for late payment.

There was even one interesting story on this topic.

For obvious reasons, the recipient of the loan defaulted on the loan. At the same time, he left a paid number to contact the bank. After a while, employees of the credit institution began to regularly call the borrower and remind them about the overdue payment. A month later, the subscriber’s account had accumulated an amount that fully covered the amount of the overdue amount. Naturally, the borrower went and repaid the debt.

As a result, everything happened according to the boomerang principle, the bank did not warn the borrower about the amount of penalties, and he did not warn them about the paid number.

However, the moral of the story is for citizens to stop naively trusting everything they hear, including on the phone.

Scam statistics

Based on international statistics, the size of the total losses of mobile operators due to fraudsters fluctuates at the level 2–6% from the total traffic volume. In monetary terms this is about $25 billion annually.

For comparison, you can consider Moscow companies that lose only 100–200 thousand dollars a year due to scammers.

However, this is no reason to relax. Indeed, over the past few years, the number of recorded cases of fraud has doubled. Some sources claim that about 10% of Russians fall for telephone scammers.

Why do people fall for criminals?

The reasons why scammers manage to deceive conscientious citizens are varied.

These include:

• desire for easy money;
• lack of basic self-defense skills;
• fear for relatives;
• fear of publicity;
• curiosity;
• gullibility.

Popular types of telephone scams

Statistics show that the telephone has long been a tool of criminal activity.

Some of the most popular types of telephone scams include:

• money transfer;
• prize winnings;
• replenishing an account fraudulently;
• fake cop;
• calls or SMS to paid numbers.

Transfer me money, mom

Fraudsters often take advantage of human weaknesses. According to consulting psychologist Irina Popova, Russians are characterized by increased anxiety. The turbulent situation in the country and periodic terrorist attacks play a big role in this issue.

Therefore, many residents of the country immediately panic after receiving a phone call.

For example, after the terrorist attack occurred at Domodedovo airport, mobile operators recorded a rapid increase in messages “Mom, I’m at the airport. Transfer money to your phone. I’ll explain everything later.” After checks, the operator blocked many numbers. Moreover, the majority of such messages came from persons serving sentences in prison. Security officials explain this by saying that prisoners are trying to earn money as best they can.

Even in everyday life, scams of this type happen. Thus, citizens receive SMS messages from an unfamiliar number with similar content on their phones. Trusting and compassionate parents hastily transfer the required amount to top up the phone, and after some time the child is announced and the deception is revealed. Often people do not even file a fraud claim because the amount of the transfer is insignificant in their opinion. Moreover, the total income of criminals per day from fraud of this kind can amount to several thousand rubles per day.

You have won a prize

Prize for the studio - these words sounded every time the corresponding playing field appeared on the reel of the famous TV show “Field of Miracles”. Perhaps this is how the name of the scammers’ next trick, “Call the Radio,” originated.

An unknown girl calls the subscriber and introduces herself as a radio worker. After this, he declares in a joyful voice that the person has won a certain prize, which is located in the studio. Accordingly, in order to pick it up, the subscriber will need to come to them. The only downside to this win is the small VAT. At the same time, you can resolve the issue of paying tax remotely by transferring money to a specific account number. You can even use an express payment card for this.

As trivial as it may seem, 1/3 of subscribers agree to pay a tax of 100-200 rubles.

Another company came up with a scam using the capabilities of the mobile operator Beeline. She sent SMS messages to the numbers of several hundred subscribers. Recipients were asked to send four paid messages to a short number. This was necessary in order to activate an account with 1 thousand package SMS and receive a possible prize of 20 dollars. Subsequently, the mobile operator disconnected the company’s number and even wanted to sue it. But, the prospects for this appeal in Judicial authority were very vague. After all, the company actually had prizes.

Pseudo-replenishment

This scam usually imitates the activity of a mobile operator's service center. Unknown persons with skills in working in a call center make calls to subscribers of a specific company.

The leitmotif of an unexpected call is profitable proposition upon transition to new tariff.

At the same time, the cost of servicing the package does not change. If a person is interested in this offer, he is asked to activate the new tariff using an express payment card. In other words, the subscriber just needs to top up his account.

After a while, the scammers call back and say that the card was purchased by them, after which they redirect the subscriber to automated system account replenishment. The answering machine voice then asks the victim to put the telephone device into tone mode and enter secret code

cards. At the end, the subscriber is informed about the account replenishment and activation of the new tariff. The scammers' emphasis is on deciphering the entered numbers. For this purpose special. Once the number is recognized, the scammers simply transfer the contents of the card to their numbers. Of course, such a trick is ineffective. On average, 5 out of 100 people fall for it. However, even low efficiency allows fraudsters to regularly top up their mobile phone account.

Fake cop

An equally interesting scheme is used by scammers, playing on parental feelings. Its essence boils down to the fact that at night a call is received from an unknown number on the victim’s phone. An unknown person addresses the sleepy subscriber by name and patronymic and reports that his child is in the police department.

To thicken the picture, the parent is notified of resisting law enforcement officers.

Sometimes they even convince callers who are scared to death that their child scratched the face of one of the policemen during the arrest. As a result, the question arises of registering the offender under a completely different article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

If you want to solve the problem before it becomes subject to criminal case materials, you can prepare a modest amount of 10 thousand rubles.

Our people will arrive to you within 30 minutes. As a rule, scammers rely on the fact that the child does not live with his parents. In addition, at night it is very difficult to find out about its location. Naturally, if parents manage to quickly get through to their child, then the scammers’ plan will fail. However, sometimes such schemes work, and the scammers manage to escape before the deceived parents realize what happened. A more effective scheme is to use a fake road accident.

Typically, such tricks happen when the scammers know for sure that the culprit of the fictitious traffic accident turns off his phone at night. As a result, parents will not be able to check where their child is. Advanced scammers have come up with the new kind deception.

They record the voice of a potential victim on a voice recorder in advance. But in order not to raise any doubts, this is done under the guise of a poll. Then a certain template is put together from different words to convince parents that their child is in danger. Often, given such arguments, it is not difficult for a false traffic police investigator to instill in parents the idea of ​​​​the need to resolve the issue peacefully, while the protocol has not yet been properly drawn up. For example, recently law enforcement officers exposed a group of fraudsters in the Vladimir region, which in just a few months managed to fool 56 people. The victims suffered material damage in the amount of $0.5 million.

Investigators say that the scammers did not even bother searching for the victim, but simply dialed random numbers. An extremely low percentage of subscribers fell for their tricks, but due to the size of the cost of services, this was enough. On average, scammers demanded from 10 to 30 thousand dollars from one person.

At the same time, parents often managed to reach the phone number of their child who was involved in an accident. But to their surprise, the same traffic police officer who allegedly confiscated the offender’s phone answered the phone. When in fact the scammers were equipped with equipment that allowed them to intercept incoming call. Such a device usually works if the car with the device is located near the victim’s house. However, representatives of the MTS company exclude the possibility of fraudsters using such equipment. According to the representative of the mobile operator Pavel Nefedov, any interference from the outside is immediately detected by the radio subsystem operation center.

Calls to paid (and very expensive) numbers

This type of fraud has long flourished in Japan. In their native language they called it “Wan-giri” or in other words “One call”. The essence of this telephone trick is that an unknown person dials a number and, without waiting for the subscriber to pick up the phone, drops the incoming call. In this case, the expectation is that the person will call back out of curiosity to find out who called him and why. After some time, the victim notices that there has been a significant decrease in the account balance.

The conclusion suggests itself that it is better not to call back unknown subscribers who hang up. Otherwise, such a call can be very expensive.

Another common trick is disguised as the services of a mobile operator. The subscriber receives a message in which he is asked to call a specific number. For participating in the competition, the victim is promised a top-up in the amount of 3 dollars. In some cases, the money actually arrives in the account after the call. However, the subsequent charge for the call usually exceeds the reward amount.

An equally interesting case took place in Samara. Here local craftsmen registered a company and registered about 10 numbers for it with a mobile operator. Using contract services, the comrades convinced Vietnamese traders that they could call their homeland for only 10 rubles. in a minute. As practice has shown, there was an increased demand for the service. The Vietnamese did not skimp on conversations with their relatives. As a result, they said a total amount of 5.8 million rubles.

After the operator did not receive payment from the newly created company, he sent a statement to law enforcement agencies.

The scammers were caught before they could escape. As experts explained, such an outcome is very rare. After all, if the scammers had not played around with the harvest, they could have been looking for them for a long time.

We need to fight!

To stop telephone fraud, citizens must understand that this problem really needs to be fought. Experts recommend working with your mobile operator and notifying them whenever suspicious situations arise.

Where to file a complaint?

If a subscriber has become an alleged victim of fraud, then he must immediately inform his operator about the attempt to defraud and indicate the phone number from which the strange SMS came. When transferring money to unknown persons, you can try to write a statement to the mobile operator about their return.

However, there are no guarantees that they will be returned.

Sometimes refunds occur, but only on condition that the transfers were made within the same network. If scammers demand money for the release of relatives, then you can hang up or report to law enforcement agencies.

How to confirm fraud?

Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to detect certain types of telephone fraud. In addition, scammers change phone numbers very often.

Therefore, subscribers only have to maintain contact with the mobile operator and try not to disclose their personal data to third parties, including bank card details.

If scammers pose as law enforcement officers, it is advisable to immediately contact the police.

Cunning schemes of cellular operators

Mobile operators often abuse their capabilities. The main problem still lies in the lack of awareness among the population.

Naturally, a person, having subscribed once, does not suspect that a certain amount of money will be debited from his account every month. And even after the subscriber becomes aware of the debiting of money, he is not always able to quickly disable the designated service. After all, to do this you need to contact the operator and get clear advice or SMS recommendations. Therefore, citizens need to carefully read the information messages that come from the mobile operator before connecting to this or that service. If the service is already connected, the subscriber can call the operator and find out what is included in his package and what additional services are connected. If they are paid, then you can make a request to disable them.

Today, a great variety of telephone deceptions have proliferated, however, as a rule, they are based on several standard and quite simple circuits. Moreover, there are clearly illegal ways to extract money from you, and there are those that even the prosecutor’s office cannot get into. Here are the most common ones.

SMS quiz

Send as many SMS as possible to number such and such and win a TV (car, trip, etc.)! Sounds familiar, doesn't it? And in small letters it is written that each short message costs one, two, or even more US dollars, and every thousandth wins. So it turns out, figuratively, that at best you win $100, having spent $1000 on email messages. A very common “scam” that still finds its audience.

SMS giveaway

An SMS is received with the following content: “System message. Promotion! Transfer money to such and such number and get exactly twice as much!” Of course, all lovers of easy money start the test small - send, say, 100 rubles. They receive 200 rubles in return. They send 200 rubles and receive 400 rubles. Wow, it works! And here it can suffer. They send, say, 2000 rubles - everything that was in the account - and in response - nothing. They just played a giveaway game with you using mobile transfer systems.

SMS dating

An SMS arrives from a supposedly girl with an offer to meet her. The target audience is exclusively men. A friendly lisp begins, a thirst to quickly get to know each other better. He even sends you a photo... In general, we send a number of messages to an unfamiliar number, and then we look - again a decent amount has leaked somewhere from the account. Someone masterfully played the role of a “girl wanting to meet someone.”

“Deposit 200 rubles into your account. Masha"

The most widespread and difficult to prove type of fraud, which almost every mobile phone owner has encountered. An SMS with the request: “I’ve run out of money, top up my account. Masha." Some subscribers, especially people of retirement age, top up the account of scammers, thinking that someone they know or close is writing. Then, with the help of “mobile transfer” systems, the money is transferred to other phone numbers of the scammers, so that they cannot be hooked on the first displayed number in the phones of numerous victims.

Give me the money!

You will receive an SMS notifying you that funds have been deposited into your account. Hmm... A few seconds later the call. The voice reports that it has just mistakenly transferred money to the wrong number and asks to return it using the “ Mobile transfer" In fact, they demand a refund from your user account - which in fact has not changed. Not every subscriber will immediately check their balance, but has the account actually been replenished?

We want to deceive you. Confirm

Many operators have multiple tariffs for services for subscribers. When ordering a service, we send an SMS message to a short number. In response, we receive a request to confirm something additional (age, desire to use the service, etc.). And the answer to such a request is charged according to some cosmic figures. Again, deception.

A year of free calls!

They are calling supposedly from a radio station as part of a joint promotion with your operator. Send the codes of two brand new payment cards and get a year of free calls! Of course, the telecom operator does not carry out any promotions in this way, and your money has been added to the accounts of the scammers. Various super-favorable lifetime rates may also be offered.

GSM Cloning

Your SIM card, having been in the hands of another person, can be copied to the computer’s memory using a special device, and from there to a new SIM card. Pirated equipment for these purposes can today be found freely available online. Moreover, the user of a duplicate of your SIM card - and with it your number - can act quietly and carefully, so that you do not immediately detect an unjustified systematic leak of money from your personal account. How to protect yourself? Just like when using a credit card, never let your SIM card out of your sight, much less into the hands of strangers.

Helpdesk-1 speaking

A call to a telephone is represented by a subscriber service. Incoming phone number either mobile or not detected. Dear client, says engineer on duty Ivan Vasiliev. Our service is transferring phones to another communication frequency (some kind of engineering works and etc.). Phone number, balance, everything else will not change, don’t worry! Dial *145 on your phone keypad... Attention! *145* is the beginning of the combination of numbers that begins the transfer of money from the personal account of one subscriber to the personal account of another. You voluntarily transfer money as part of the Mobile Transfer service. Irrevocably. Neither the operator nor the police will help you return what was naively lost.

Helpdesk 2 speaking

Hello, technical support service, engineer on duty Vasily Ivanov. We have a problem here technical problems, your number is accidentally blocked and the Caller ID information is not being transmitted correctly. Please call the number (they start dictating)... Phone number of a paid service. That is, for a call to this phone number N is withdrawn from your personal account, which is limited by the imagination of the “service organizers”. You should know that technical services Cellular operators do not make such calls in principle.

Helpdesk 3 speaking

Hello, technical support service, engineer on duty Ivan Vasiliev. You changed your tariff plan without notifying our cellular communication company (did not make payments on time, used roaming services, etc.). You need to pay a certain amount of the fine by sending the payment card number to the specified phone number.

Helpdesk-4 speaking

Technical support, Vasily Ivanov (call or SMS). Your phone is blocked, you need to call such and such a number. At the other end of the line there is an answering machine that will briefly explain what you need to do so as not to lose your old number or confirm that you will continue to use the services of this network. There, of course, they will ask you to dial a certain combination of numbers to unlock. Such spam mailings are usually carried out en masse, targeting gullible users.

Relative in trouble

A call from a friend (colleague) of your relative or loved one. Like, something bad happened (road accident, explosion, things became bad on the street, accident, other emergency). A call from someone else's number because the phone of your wife (husband, child, grandmother, aunt, uncle, etc.) has run out of battery. There is not enough money in the account, and in order to solve problems, you still need to call a lot of places. They urgently require you to top up the balance of an unknown number. Fast! It’s better to buy a top-up card and dictate the secret code. A pure trust game with many variations on the theme of people worrying about their loved ones. Night calls are especially effective, especially if the voice introduces itself as a traffic police officer or another law enforcement or security service. There are also more terrible cases when people are faced with blackmail and asking for kickbacks in continuation of the theme “your child was caught buying drugs.”

SMS request

I receive an SMS with approximately the following content: “I have problems, call such and such a number, if the number does not answer, put so many rubles on it and call again.” Sometimes you just receive a message: “I’m in the hospital, put money on the number and I’ll call you back later.” You should not immediately rush to top up the account of an unfamiliar number - most likely, this is a case of blatant fraud.

False prize

The host of a famous music radio station allegedly calls and congratulates you on winning a valuable prize. To receive a prize, you need to call within a minute to such and such a radio station number, where you will once again be congratulated on your victory. It is possible that a feeling of joy has already come over you, and you have become more trusting. In addition, you only need to buy a top-up card within half an hour and tell the “DJ” its details - the last condition in order to collect the prize, for example, to pay VAT. At the radio station itself, as it turns out later, no prize awaits you.

Expensive short number

Using short numbers (a set of four digits), you can call the rescue service, popular radio stations, get legal support, contact an insurance company, call a taxi and much more. Such services are provided by third-party providers under a formal agreement with your cellular operator on mutually beneficial terms. For the services provided to each client of a cellular operator, the service provider probably deducts some percentage of the profit. You call a specially indicated number for the appropriate reason. A person will provide you with information. He will question you in detail, take a minute or two to find answers to your specific questions. Well, then you find out that for a conversation with a polite girl, a tidy sum was debited from your account, say $30 for 10 minutes of conversation! Deception? No, everything is fair. At the same time, various cunning techniques are actively used to hide information about the cost of such services. So that it is impossible to be held liable under the article “consumer deception.”

The merciless deception of a deceiver

On email box I received a letter with an offer to download a program that can find a secret code for a hundred-dollar payment card. To do this, you need to enter the code of a card worth, say, $10 in the program field. The real ten dollars float away to the scammer, and in return you get a completely useless set of numbers.

False corporate tariff

You receive an email from a supposed employee large company responsible for connecting to the corporate tariff plan. They say, if you wish, for a certain bribe of about $50, you can be connected on favorable terms. At the end of the day, it is promised to send a SIM card by mail with a lifetime unlimited local connection, activated international roaming and a constantly maintained account balance of, say, $300. Moreover, you can choose any Big Three operator as a telecom operator, since we are talking about connecting to a large transnational offshore corporation. The offer is valid for a week, since new employees are being hired, and all the paperwork needs to be done “on the sly.”

Deceitful corporate tariff-2

Private offer for a similar tariff plan. Without signing any contract. At a private meeting with an agent, handing over paper money, you receive a real SIM card in your hands. It is indeed activated, and the agreed amount is in the account. But the buyer's happiness does not last long, because... the seller, having received the money, goes straight to the subscriber service center at the operator’s office and, being the only legal owner of the number, simply receives a free duplicate of the SIM card that he allegedly lost. The one that remains in the hands of the buyer becomes invalid.

Deceitful content provider

The website of a usually small content provider indicates a number of interesting services that can be ordered for permanent use - access to movie collections, discounts on wap traffic, caller location services, etc. But in addition to sending an SMS application to a short number, you are asked to dial a special code to activate it. And the code turns out to be a number assigned to the provider of paid telephone lines in the countries of America, Africa, Asia, Europe, etc. As a result, the user receives a bill for an expensive international call. Without the right to dispute written-off funds.

You didn’t sign an agreement - you still have to pay!

In January and February 2010, new information emerged about messages demanding payment of a mobile phone bill. Although people did not sign contracts for the indicated numbers. It turned out that the scammers used the passport data of people not involved in the agreement, subsequently presenting them with certain monetary demands. According to MTS, in 2009, about 20 thousand complaints were recorded regarding fictitious contracts with this operator in Russia.

It costs a lot to unsubscribe from spam

You receive an SMS saying that you have subscribed to the weather forecast service, 7 days free, or another unexpected spam mailing. To disconnect, you need to dial STOP to such and such a four-digit number. There is, of course, not a word about this number on the operator’s official website. And the money in your account will noticeably decrease.

Is it fantastic to be charged a cosmic amount for picking up the phone?

Call from an unknown number. Once you press the “reply” button, money will be debited from your account. The end result will be a decent amount. SMS with a request to call back to an unknown phone works the same way. Most likely, the scammers connect to the network in another region, and the “call at the expense of the interlocutor” service is activated on the number. And the debit goes through a channel created by scammers specifically for these purposes.

Finally. According to Beeline, in January-February of this year, the number of requests for fraud to the central help desk fluctuated at 1000-1200 messages per day. Often to mobile fraud employees of mobile operators themselves, dealers and especially content providers of various sizes are involved. The leaders in fraudulent abuses today are content providers - small firms that enter into partnership agreements with mobile operators to provide additional services in the field of mobile communications. They are focused on quickly generating income and leaving the market.

In this regard, mobile operators began to reduce the number of partners who have the right to sell pictures, video clips, melodies and other types of content for mobile phones to their subscribers. After all, with a smaller number of providers, it is easier to monitor the quality and characteristics of the transmitted information. Also this year, mobile operators began to revise partnership agreements, introducing a clause on the collection of fines comparable to the partner’s monthly revenue on a particular short number. Thus cutting off unscrupulous players. Forcing others to more carefully conduct control measures among their subcontractors, because often short numbers are subleased, and it turns out that this third party becomes a fraudster, and not the main tenant.

Complex contractual relationships sometimes cause difficulties in determining the guilt of specific companies. But in any case, the name of the cellular operator itself suffers. As a rule, we blame them for all mobile sins. This forces them to become more and more actively involved in the fight against mobile fraud, to develop the function of requesting confirmation from the subscriber (to send a message to a short number, to pay for a service, etc.).

Talk to your operator, demand, threaten to refuse services in favor of a competitor. Today, it is extremely important to master the topic of security on the mobile network, as well as on the Internet and the road network. Even if the light turns green, you should still look around before crossing the road. What if someone rushes headlong towards you and doesn’t have time to slow down? Then you will blame the faulty traffic lights?

By the way

The Arbitration Court of the Magadan Region found the mobile operator guilty of unlawfully debiting funds from a subscriber's account when using short SMS numbers. Until now, liability in similar situations was borne by content providers who rented such numbers from operators. If the courts take into account the decision of the Magadan arbitration, mobile operators face serious fines: in 2009, fraudulent schemes through SMS payments accounted for $38-45.6 million.