Alexander Zakharov."Scams. Forgeries. Crime."
2001-2018 Latest update November 25, 2018
As soon as it appeared, the telephone became a tool of criminal activity. And a cell phone, a smartphone - especially.
As international statistics show, the annual total losses of telecom operators and subscribers from telephone fraud amount to approximately $10-40 billion. It is impossible to accurately calculate - operators are extremely reluctant to share their losses, and subscribers are “thrown away” for 100-500-900 rubles. often they don’t go anywhere.
Linking bank accounts to mobile banking applications threatens victims of scammers with serious financial losses.
Basic schemes of deception
There are only a few basic scams related to mobile phones. But there are a lot of variations of successful “scams” that bring quite tangible profits to the scammers.
And when users stop being attracted to already used schemes, new ones appear. This process is constantly improving. Moreover, with the advent of smartphones, fraud using cellular communication and the Internet has reached a new, higher quality level (the number of different viruses for Android is growing almost exponentially. In particular, see the 6 most malicious applications for smartphones).
The most common scams involving mobile phones and smartphones :
1. Call from operator technical support
A stern message comes like: “Your number is blocked. Details in the service technical support mobile operator." And a phone number is indicated, but not a four-digit one, like the operator service departments, but a regular ten-digit one. When you call this number, a “subscriber department specialist” picks up the phone, identifies himself and some of his “personnel number” (probably for the sake of respectability) and explains that your number is “transferred to another line.” Further options are possible. You may be asked to send a “re-registration confirmation SMS”.
They will charge you for SMS and that could be the end of it.
Another option: they allegedly begin to check the “database”, asking for first and patronymic names, place of residence and work, passport details and... credit card number. But this is completely a sucker...
Another option: “Hello, this is the engineering service of your cellular operator. We are reconfiguring the network. To stay in touch, you need to dial...” As a result, after dialing the dictated combination of letters and numbers, 300 rubles are debited from the account. (or 600 for those who were instructed by the “service engineer” to “dial authorization twice to be sure”). In fact, the entered combination was nothing more than a paid SMS sending to a short number. That is, simply an SMS payment in favor of the fraudster.
New option: A scammer calls your mobile phone and may introduce himself as an engineer from an operator company. mobile communications. A convincing citizen will tell you that he is supposedly checking the quality of the connection, and will ask you to press #90, or #09, or any other combination of numbers and symbols. By entering dictated characters, you will provide scammers with access to your SIM card. And you can only wonder where the money disappears from your account.
Another option is aimed at deceiving clients of the Mobile Bank of Sberbank of Russia (and there are 88 million of them): Fraudsters call subscribers on behalf of technical support employees of the corresponding cellular operator (MTS, MegaFon, Beeline or Tele2). In their behavior, scammers perfectly imitate the behavior of real technical support employees - they treat you politely, offer some great deals to lull the victim’s vigilance, etc.
All these conversations boil down to the fact that the subscriber must send an SMS to the official Sberbank number 900 with additional numbers (the scammers will readily dictate them) to confirm the new terms of service. Scammers use various pretexts for this, but most often - the need to confirm the activation of the discount, which will apply after the VAT increase to 20% from January 1, 2019.
Everyone knows about the upcoming increase in VAT and many are not averse to receiving a legal discount and continuing to pay for communications at the old price next year. If you send an SMS to number 900, all the money of the Sberbank client is transferred to the fraudster. Most often, elderly people and those who do not know that via regular SMS you can send funds from a Sberbank bank account fall for scammers.
At the same time, scammers make such calls using VoIP services, which replace the phone number with any other one, eliminating the possibility of “exposing” their real number.
By the way, as practice shows, they can call themselves anything. Most importantly, do not do anything with your smartphone under the dictation of scammers. It’s easier (and cheaper) to interrupt the conversation, contact the official technical support service of your telecom operator and clarify that this was specifically offered to you.
- Prisoner convicted of earning money in prison by sending SMS to credit card holders
2. “You won a car” (“Trip to...”, “TV...”, etc.)
The “operator” calls you (but you can also receive an SMS), congratulates you on your win and asks you to either send a confirmation SMS, or make a registration “fee” through WEBmoney, “Yandex.money”, buy a prepaid card and call back, giving its code. Money naturally disappears, but winning did not exist in nature.
- Telephone scammers posing as radio station DJs were convicted in Tatarstan
3. “Mom, I had an accident...” (“Sasha, the battery is dead...”, “Lena, I’m in trouble...”, “Mom, I’m in the hospital, pay for the operation...”)
It’s good if you are simply asked to transfer money to the specified mobile phone number. The money transferred is payment for the title "sucker". The caller introduces himself as a son (brother, friend, co-worker) and in an excited voice reports that he has just had an accident (he hit a person, was detained by the police, taken hostage, stuck in an elevator). The unusual sound of the voice was explained by stress, trauma, and poor communication. Why is the call from someone else's phone? Mine ran out of batteries (broke during an accident, was taken by bandits, got lost in the chaos). You have to call from someone else. You will have to make a lot of calls, so you need to top up the person’s balance. This was followed by a request to buy an express payment card for 10, 20, 50, 100 dollars and dictate it over the phone secret code. According to a representative of the “K” department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, prisoners in prison often engage in such scams - they top up their accounts for their own conversations.
It’s worse when “Mom, I hit a person, I have to pay for the “excuse”, I hand the phone over to the investigator...” Many people, especially older people, fall for this “scam.” In 2007, my mother was scammed like this - she gave the scammers 30 thousand for supposedly my “excuse” from the police. I guessed to call me only after I gave the money... I laughed for a long time, and then, together with the operatives, I figured out the scammers. We figured it out. The money is still being paid...
Here is another example of a similar telephone “scam”: In Moscow, a circus cloakroom attendant gave 700 thousand rubles to fake police officers to save her son after being “detained for drugs”
A very expensive type of similar “divorce”: “Mom, I’m in the hospital, I urgently need to pay for the operation...”. More details here:
- Mom, pay for the operation...
How scammers extort money from gullible citizens for “paid medical care” - Having deceived the widow of Evgeniy Leonov, the swindlers offered to call her an ambulance
To avoid becoming a victim of attackers, you must follow simple rules of safe behavior and be sure to convey them to your elderly relatives:
Never trust calls and messages that your relative or friend has been in an accident, hospital, behind bars and now you need to pay bail (fine, bribe) for him. Call your relatives and friends. Make sure they are okay. Practice shows that a regular call to a loved one allows you to dot all the i’s;
Do not answer if your phone receives calls or SMS messages from unknown numbers with a request to deposit money into an account to help children or to receive a supposedly won prize. All prizes will go to the scammers in the form of your honestly earned money.
4. “I’m in trouble, can I call my mom?”
You allow a crying girl to dial the number of her beloved mother from your phone. She honestly returns the device after talking for a few minutes. During this time, a considerable amount disappears from your account - the girl called a paid telephone line.
5. “Give me your money back”
Two SMS arrive. The first one says that ___00 rubles were transferred to your account, and the second one says that this was done by mistake, like, return the money. In fact, no one transferred money to you and you don’t need to return anything. But you are an honest person...
6. “Your bank card is blocked...”
A text message arrives: “Your bank card is blocked. For questions about unblocking, please call..." And on that number the scammers are already waiting for you. Having introduced themselves as bank employees, in order to remove the supposed block, you will be asked to go to the nearest ATM and asked to perform several manipulations with the card under their dictation. As a result, your card account will be reset to zero, and the scammers will enrich themselves by the same amount.
They may ask for card details in order to withdraw money from it in a matter of minutes.
When you receive such SMS, do not call the phone number indicated in the SMS, but call the bank’s contact center at the number indicated on the card.
6.1. Fraud allegedly from 900 number
The victim is sent an SMS from a short number, supposedly “900,” that a transfer in the amount of a certain amount will be made from a bank card. And something like this: “Confirm the action by sending 1 to the same number. If you do not confirm, it will happen automatically after 600 seconds.”
And this is where the “bank employee” comes into play, calling the victim and introducing himself as a security officer. Next comes the usual “swindle” according to scheme 6, and the victim loses a certain amount of money.
The trick of the scheme is that the call is coming not from a 900 number, scammers start with 9 and two letters “o” - 9oo, 9OO. If you don't look closely, it looks similar.
7. Banking Trojan for Android
This provides scammers with the opportunity to steal money from the victim’s bank account, if the Mobile Bank service is connected. Fraudsters send to owners mobile devices messages with an offer to download a “postcard”, “gift”, etc., for which you can follow an Internet link. By clicking on this link, the user downloads a malicious program that is capable of requesting a balance without the subscriber’s participation, topping up the account from a bank card if it is linked to the number, and withdrawing funds from the subscriber’s account to the e-wallets of attackers. You can only find out about the presence of such a threat on your phone using an antivirus program. software or by constantly monitoring transactions in your bank account (SMS alerts).
To protect money in bank accounts from theft, the most effective option would be to completely stop working with finances on Android smartphones and tablets. It is clear that this is not acceptable for most.
Option: must be used second smartphone which is used only for mobile banking. And you shouldn’t think that “which hacker needs me” - every hacker needs and values each one.
8. "Confirm your passport details"
The scheme is simple and reliable, because is based on real changes made to the Law “On Communications” and which entered into force on June 1, 2018, namely: operators are required to verify the accuracy of the information provided by their subscribers. This is the date of birth, full name, passport details. If the subscriber’s data does not match those already entered into the state information base, the operator will suspend the provision of services. If a request comes from law enforcement agencies and the subscriber does not confirm his data within 15 days, the operator will block the SIM card.
The company checks the data of its clients exclusively upon personal appearance with a passport.
So, the subscriber receives an SMS message, supposedly from his telecom operator, with a requirement to urgently confirm his passport data by sending a scanned copy of the document to a specific address. If the scan is not received within the next 15 days, the number will be blocked.
An Internet search reveals information about changes in the law, and some recipients of such SMS messages send a scan of the document without bothering to call their operator. The consequences can be dire. Using a passport scan, scammers can:
take a loan in someone else’s name from any microfinance organization that is not scrupulous towards its clients;
register legal entity in order to subsequently launder money through the company and engage in other activities prohibited by law;
create a website in the name of the subscriber that will defraud gullible citizens of money;
conclude any transactions on behalf of the subscriber.
9. Offer to determine the location of the subscriber, intercept SMS, find out everything about the last name, etc., on Internet sites
These proposals are nothing more than offers to “play”: “SMS interceptor”, “location determination”, or an “anti-surveillance” system are nothing more than games.
There is even a standard public offer agreement, which the vast majority of users ignore, checking the box and “accepting the terms.” The contract directly states that the service is a “game” and does not provide any real services or information. This agreement is carefully hidden, but formally it is easily accessible to the consumer. Usually, next to the cost of access there is an inconspicuous asterisk, which is a link to the user agreement. That is, the price of an SMS is indicated in the range of 10-30 rubles, and in small and hard-to-read font somewhere at the bottom of the site they write that the price is indicated for one view, one day of access, one day of specialist work, etc. And you pay for the month at once access, hundreds of views, etc., and they don’t even try to provide real services. The only task is to rip off the maximum possible amount at a time, without breaking the law and following the rules of the game.
However, most subscribers perceive these offers not as an invitation to play, but as a real service that allows them to find out the details of the private lives of other people. This type services such as games are not announced, or are announced in small font to match the background color (and who looks at the small font that is not visible?). And by sending the corresponding SMS to the specified number, you definitely lose money. They played with you, entertained you... Nothing criminal.
By the way, there are only three numbers for everyone to send SMS to “to play spy”. That is, a great many virtual rogue detectives are nothing more than clones of one big fraud.
10. “L ove-story” - paid numbers
“On a dating site, I received a message from a user with an offer to communicate by mobile phone, since he rarely visits the site. Neither on the website nor via SMS I was notified that this is an “SMS flirt” service, and the cost of an SMS is 77 rubles. The affair via SMS cost me 260,000 rubles. I really hope that my story is one of the few, and that girls will not fall for the tricks of SMS scammers.”
Be careful when communicating blindly - there may be scammers on the other end.
Scams with paid numbers are generally very common, and can vary in execution. You might receive an SMS from an unfamiliar number like: “Your house is on fire,” or again, a call comes from an unfamiliar number and is immediately dropped. When you call the number back, some amount of money will be debited from your account. So don't call these numbers back. It’s easier to call home or wait for a call from this very number - if you are needed, they will call you.
11. Duplicate SIM card
Agency companies mobile operators They often issue duplicate SIM cards, many of which are linked to Sberbank’s Mobile Bank or to the Internet banking of other banks. As a result, an unscrupulous owner of a duplicate SIM card has the opportunity to steal money from a bank account previous owner SIM cards.
- MTS or Sberbank - who will compensate for losses for theft of money from an account through a “mobile bank”
About SMS fraud
Unlike telephone numbers of cellular subscribers, short numbers are designed specifically for paying for mobile services. This could be participation in SMS quizzes and polls, selling content (pictures, ringtones, videos, games) for cell phones, requests for information or subscriptions, sending messages to radio stations or special codes for prize draws. This is what scammers use, who receive their main income from SMS messages (not counting divorces of pensioners from road accidents). The maximum price for one content SMS is about 300 rubles, but the user will be forced to send two or three messages under any pretext (“you have registered in the system, now send a request”, “send an SMS to confirm that you are over 18 years old”, etc. .). As a result, 600-900 rubles are withdrawn from the account at a time.
According to independent experts, up to 50% of premium SMS traffic is fraudulent (according to operators, a maximum of 15%).
The list of scams and scams with SMS is wide: antiviruses that promise “100% protection against spam”, interceptors of ICQ and SMS messages from other phones, software that allows you to manage other phones, “punching” a cellular subscriber number or selling access to a telephone database , offers to find out the secret of one’s surname, “testing for treason” (it is stated that the check is carried out by studying the statistics of the owner of the number’s appeals to prostitutes, activities on dating sites and social networks), sale of methods for breast or penis enlargement, building muscle mass, unique diets , online fortune telling, dream interpretation, wish fulfillment, “download a movie at high speed”, various tests... And so on.
The most advanced and creative scammers use interfaces of popular social networks known to Internet users on their websites: for example, “Odnonochniki.ru” offers to select “sex partners for one night, for regular secret meetings, group sex and much more.”
Hundreds of scam sites appearing almost every day and the problems of subscribers who visit them make not only users think, but also direct participants in the micropayment market - content providers and cellular operators, as well as their partners - antivirus companies. Thus, in just 1 month of 2010, according to the Doctor Web company, scammers’ income came only from various modifications of Trojan.Winlock (a ransomware virus that blocks operating system) reached several hundred million rubles. We must also take into account the fact that this data is not for all users using Doctor Web anti-virus software in Russia. There are also those who use solutions from other vendors, as well as those who do not seek to protect themselves at all, forgetting about the antivirus.
A huge part of SMS payments is made up of advertising and offering services on the Internet. By sending an SMS to a short number, they may offer to pay for access to a porn archive or downloading pirated software, as well as quite plausible services, such as receiving the result of an IQ test or a personal horoscope. Usually the cost of an SMS is 300 rubles, instead of the declared 30-50 rubles. At the same time, the unlucky user receives nothing for his payment. Moreover, sometimes he receives a notification: they say he needs to send another “free SMS with additional confirmation”, etc. ad infinitum.
Know-how of SMS scammers at the end of 2013-beginning of 2014. An SMS message with a text like “I scratched your car.” The poor sucker, without even bothering to inspect his car and wonder where the unknown woman got his phone number, immediately called back to the displayed LOCAL number (replaced by scammers) and lost a considerable amount of money... The number turned out to be heavily charged.
A very interesting technique began to be used frequently in 2012-2013: a virus picked up on the Internet, when opening any Internet page, filled about a quarter of the screen with a window with porn, which was not removed by any action. In a separate line, the porn informer sarcastically thanked you for your trust and offered to send an SMS with a code to the number 3649 to delete yourself and cancel your porn video subscription. Those who decided to send an SMS received a response message instead of a deletion code - an invitation to send another SMS to confirm the deletion.
Number 3649 is used wherever possible. From spam mailings "Number 3649, if you send it to it, you will receive 35 free SMS", "access to unreal erotica", "get a key for Kaspersky" to the offer "download cheat sheets on physics". To receive a password, you need to send an SMS message TTHOM."
http://smscost.ru/ - on this site you can check the true cost of SMS to short numbers before sending.
Cellular operators
“Hello, is it you? I thought I had the wrong number,” almost every mobile subscriber has heard such a phrase at least once. What else can you think about if, instead of the usual beep, a familiar number responds with music? Turns out it's new promotion mobile operators - all subscribers were given the service of replacing the dial tone with a melody without warning. Free to try. But, for example, in Beeline, after two weeks the service automatically became paid (2 rubles per day). Those who were puzzled by the change in their call in time and called the operator managed, if desired, to refuse in time, while the rest understood the situation only after noticing the accelerated decrease in money from their account.
But a service connected in this way without the subscriber’s consent is imposed, and in many regions prosecutorial checks forced mobile operators to abandon such actions. Now, as the press service of the VimpelCom company said, the advertising campaign continues, but with the conditions adjusted at the end of 2010 - after the end of the free promotional period, the service is automatically disabled.
There is also a weather alert service via SMS. The first month is free.
If scammers have become the owner of your mobile phone number, they already have the opportunity to steal money honestly deposited into your account. Cards (if there is an account number) such as Mastercard Standart, Visa Classic and other types from which you can pay for your services via the Internet are also subject to a similar reception. Therefore, the question often arises: can a fraudster, knowing only the card number, withdraw money from this card. AND detailed information can be found .
For example, Sberbank has a service through which you can transfer funds knowing your card number. All users actively use this. It is also possible to find out the name of the card owner. It is enough to make the minimum payment through the system and during the payment the name, surname and patronymic of the person to whom you are going to leave the money will appear.
The easiest way is to use the services of Avito. The scammer finds out your:
- Mobile number;
- Card number;
- During the payment process - full name.
This data is enough to pay for services that do not require a control code.
Fraudsters took money from your card and phone - what to do
To protect yourself at least somehow, activate the mobile banking service directly from the Banking organization. Thus, all manipulations that will occur with your account will be reflected in the form of instant messages. To somehow react to a transaction that you did not make, you must:
- Block your own bank card through the support service;
- Via SMS message.
For now faster way blocking was not invented.
In addition, blocking can be done through the support service. Their phone number is 24/7 and free. However, the operator may ask you to call code word. Not all owners remember this.
What to do if scammers have withdrawn money from your phone?
If you notice that something is wrong with your number, block your SIM card. Don’t listen to your friends, relatives and acquaintances that it’s impossible to simply withdraw money from your mobile account. Fraudsters are constantly improving technology, so it won’t be difficult to withdraw funds into your own account.
You can call the operator who provides you with the relevant services. He can do more than just block telephone number, but also inform you about the latest transactions with your mobile account. In the future, you must sort this out with the police or the prosecutor's office by filing a complaint against the operator.
How do scammers withdraw money from your phone through Odnoklassniki?
Sometimes they say that the profile is sending out unwanted advertising, so the administration decided to block the account. To restore, you must provide your current information, including your phone number.
After you have entered your phone number, a confirmation code will be sent. After entering it, the funds will be withdrawn from your mobile phone account. In this case, restoration will not occur. Notifications may differ significantly from each other, but the essence is the same. Do not enter your mobile number under any circumstances. Most likely, scammers are operating.
About withdrawing money from QIWI - on how to return money from a QIWI wallet if you were deceived when making a transfer.
What to do if scammers withdrew money from your phone via VK?
In another popular social network VKontakte also lures money by hacking user pages. You may receive various messages from friends stating that after sending an SMS, 200 rubles will be credited to your account. However, this is, of course, a lie. But there may not be funds. Therefore, it is not worth sending it.
It is also worth noting that there are quite a lot of people on this social network who are actively asking for this or that help. For example, parents ask for help raising money for treatment, maintaining or sheltering animals, or finding missing ones. In all these relationships, there can be deception out of pity, as a result of which scammers are excellent at luring out money.
How do scammers withdraw money from your phone when you call?
First, the owner of the mobile device sees an unusual SMS message that comes from a four-digit set of numbers. It contains a certain code that consists of numbers. He thinks that this message was sent to him by mistake. A few minutes later a call comes from an unfamiliar mobile number. The subscriber politely apologizes and says that his relative entered the number by mistake and would be grateful if you tell him these numbers. He also assures that everything is absolutely safe. But after this, the money from the account of your various profiles through which the number was registered suddenly disappears. If we are talking about paid SMS, then the money disappears from the phone after the call.
Where to go if scammers have withdrawn money from your phone?
First of all, if you have withdrawn money from your phone, you need to contact your mobile operator. As a rule, the claim can be printed and taken to the mobile phone branch in your region. Make a copy as well. It also needs to be marked with the date, the incoming sequence of numbers and a stamp confirming the acceptance of the claim. In the complaint itself, it is better to immediately indicate the following parameters:
- Last name, first name and patronymic of the applicant;
- Contract and mobile phone number with a specific mobile operator;
- A thorough description of the difficulties encountered or the reason why the funds were written off.
The main thing is to file a claim. You will have a chance to return the debited funds back to your account.
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Cellular operators are constantly monitoring new and commonly used patterns mobile fraud. As a rule, it all starts with the fact that an SMS message of a certain type arrives on the phone of one person or a whole group of people, designed to force the person to take the actions desired by the scammers. The role of bait can be played by such ordinary human feelings and emotions as pity, greed, envy or the desire to get a new prestigious job.
However, all the bait is a pretext; the scammers’ goal is for the subscriber who received this message to either call the specified number or send an SMS message in response. It is clear that both services will have the same result, that is, money from the mobile account of a gullible subscriber will be withdrawn and credited to the fraudster’s account. It's simple.
So, mobile fraud schemes.
Scheme No. 1 - mobile spy.
This service, offered by scammers, is supposedly designed to determine the location of a person with their mobile phone turned on. In order to activate the service, you first need to register and answer a few simple questions via SMS. Naturally, each message is paid. At the end of the conversation, the subscriber is sent a link to a publicly accessible navigator, so as not to be too indignant.
Scheme No. 2 – ransomware banner. When a virus gets into the program, a window appears on the screen requiring you to send an SMS message to the short number specified immediately. In response, the banner promises to send an unlock code. By the way, many are still waiting for the promised code, which does not exist at all.
Scheme No. 3 – cash prize.
A message arrives on your phone with a promise to transfer a fairly tidy sum of money to your phone account, but to do this you first need to confirm receipt of the SMS message by replying to a short number. The result is always the same: the money is almost immediately debited from the balance and replenishes the scammers’ accounts.
Scheme No. 4 – loan debt.
Usually this is a telephone call, but you will not be talking to a person, but to a machine that will assure you that the time has come to pay off debts in such and such a bank, and will offer a whole menu to choose from. For example, if you want to listen to the message again, you can press the number “1”; if you want to inquire about the amount of debt, you can press “2”; if you decide to talk to the operator, you can press “9”. Not only will there be a charge for such a conversation, but there is also the opportunity to extract his numbers from the gullible subscriber bank cards and other confidential information.
Where can I get money to start my own business? This is exactly the problem that 95% of new entrepreneurs face! In the article, we revealed the most relevant ways to obtain start-up capital for an entrepreneur. We also recommend that you carefully study the results of our experiment in exchange earnings:
This is a fairly traditional scheme that asks the user to unsubscribe from advertising. At first glance, the proposal is quite necessary, but in reality no one is going to turn off any advertising. The scammers' only goal is to force the recipient to send a message to the specified short number.
Scheme No. 6 – a cry for help.
In this case, the subscriber receives a message asking for help in finding a donor with a rare blood type, which is supposedly necessary to save the life of a dying child. The same message contains telephone numbers where information is collected. In fact, the scammers' goal is still the same.
Scheme No. 7 – fault on the line.
This scam is carried out using a call. A person unknown to you introduces himself as an employee mobile operator, who is busy searching for a fault on the line. It asks the subscriber to dial a specific sequence of numbers, which serves as a command to empty your mobile account.
Scheme No. 8 – please call.
Despite the fact that this scheme is as old as the world, it still works flawlessly. A pleasant young man or attractive young lady asks to make a call from a potential victim's mobile phone. And then everything is simple. One call to a short number - and the balance is reset to zero, or even goes into a negative value. If, after all this, the mobile phone returns to the hands of the deceived kind-hearted person, he can consider himself incredibly lucky.
Scheme No. 9 – job offers.
Phone numbers of people looking for work are not so difficult to find on the Internet. And then everything is as always. An SMS message comes with an offer of a prestigious and highly paid job. The only thing that is required from the recipient is to confirm his consent by sending a message to a short number.
Scheme No. 10 – request for a refund.
A person calls you from an unfamiliar number and asks you to urgently return the money mistakenly transferred to your mobile phone account. Before rushing to fulfill this request, make sure that this news is true.
09.03.16 336 540 0
How to understand that you are being scammed over the phone
Even if the fraudster knows the card number and expiration date, it is not easy to steal money from it.
Most cards are protected by 3-D Secure - a system that requires confirmation of large transactions with a code from SMS. To find out the treasured code, attackers use: sending letters, spamming on social networks, faking bank websites and making phone calls on their behalf.
Maxim Matyushchenko
experienced buyer
Imagine: Saturday evening, cups of tea, a TV series crackling on the laptop. Suddenly a call: “Hello, this is about your card.” If the dialogue follows one of the scenarios below, end the conversation and report to the bank.
Sign 1
The call comes from an unknown number or from a mobile phone 
The bank always calls from the official numbers listed on the website. It is not necessary to remember the number, but it must at least be local or federal (8−800).
Sign 2
An SMS supposedly from the bank arrives in a new correspondence 
SMS from the bank also comes from one or two numbers that are already familiar to you. In any case, do not rush to click on the links in the message.
Sign 3
The interlocutor cannot answer simple questions 
Scammer
Hello, someone from the bank is bothering you. We see a suspicious transaction on your card.
On what card?
According to your main
Give the number
Bank
Hello, someone from the bank is bothering you. We see a suspicious transaction on your card, the last digits are 1234. Cash withdrawal in another city, the amount is 8,000 rubles.
Oh, I filmed this, thanks!
The call center operator sees on the screen everything that the bank knows about you. If the interlocutor is not ready to answer a simple question, for example, tell the card balance, this is a scammer.
Sign 4
Alarming message or call subject 
To scare the victim and force them to quickly take the desired action, scammers come up with frightening scenarios. They say that the bank has blocked the account, assessed a fine for the loan, or that a suspicious transaction was carried out.
In such a situation, do not rush, two minutes will not solve anything. Call the bank and find out. Call only the phone number indicated on the website or on the map.
Sign 5
The interlocutor asks for card details or SMS code 
Scammer
To cancel a suspicious transaction, tell me your card number and the code on the back.
1234 5678 9012 3456, code 789.
Great, you will now receive an SMS, tell me, what are the numbers?
Bank
We blocked the card and ordered a reissue. The courier will call you to arrange a meeting. We have temporarily blocked the funds for the suspicious transaction, and the security service is studying the situation.
An SMS code is the same as a password. Bank employees will never ask him, and they already know the card number.
If you received a call supposedly from a bank and you want to make sure that the person you are talking to is reliable, ask his name. After this, call the official bank number - the one indicated on the card and on the website - and ask to be switched to the person who called you.
Sign 6
They promise you benefits without effort 
To lure the victim, scammers promise a solid income quickly and effortlessly: super profitable work, win-win competitions, courses that will make everyone rich. But free cheese It doesn’t even happen in a mousetrap: you won’t get money, you’ll only lose it. For example, scammers will take an advance payment for training and disappear. Or they will promise a prize and lure you out of your card details, supposedly to transfer your winnings.
Sign 7
The interlocutor is rushing you or trying to convince you 
The bank employee will never insist or rush. He's at work.
Sign 8
Errors in message 
The bank has vigilant editors, but scammers write with errors. Don't let the illiterate criminal fool you.
Sign 9
The sender's name is misspelled 
Fraudsters register addresses similar to bank names. This is where the property of the brain works, which reads the meaning of words if the letters in them are written. When such an SMS arrives, you should also be alerted by the fact that the message was in a new correspondence.
Conclusions
- If you are not sure about the interlocutor, ask him to tell you the card number or account balance.
- Don't panic if they write to you about blocking your account. Call the bank using the number on the website or on the card.
- Don't be fooled by promises of easy money or benefits without effort.
- If the other person is rushing you or asking for an SMS code, you are talking to a scammer.
- Read messages from the bank carefully. Fraudsters use sender names similar to bank names and make mistakes in the text.
Telephone scam is comparatively new look defrauding citizens of money or valuables, which flourished after the mass distribution of mobile phones. Although it existed before, in its simplest form - to find out if the owners were at home, or to force them to leave the apartment under the invented pretext of their grandmother’s illness at the dacha.
The essence of telephone fraud is simple. They call you and tell you something, after which you lose a certain amount of money. By the way, it is absolutely not necessary that they call you on your mobile phone. They can also use a regular landline phone - unfortunately, databases of almost ALL phone numbers can be purchased. Let's look at the most common options. There are two of them, the second is divided into many sub-options.
phone scammers
1. A close relative hit a person, the police must be paid
No matter how many times this scheme is reported in newspapers and on TV, scammers continue to use it. You get a call, usually at night, supposedly from the police and say that your son (daughter, brother, sister) hit someone at a pedestrian crossing. He faces many years in prison, but you can pay off the police. Take 100 thousand (or more, or less) and bring it there, or else, we’ll come to you and hand over your little son in exchange for money.
At first, this simple option also worked. Then they began to work more sophisticatedly. Your son called you from the police and described the situation crying. Then a policeman picked up the phone and clearly explained what to do now. Many came across. Especially if you were given a deadline for transferring money, for example, like this: in half an hour the colonel will arrive, and then nothing can be done. Hurry up.
How to avoid getting caught
Don't be surprised that they called you. Obviously, the scammers have previously made inquiries about you. They know that you have a son who drives a car. So you ask the fake policeman to hand him the phone. It happened that they passed it on to a good imitator of your son’s voice. Then you need to ask him a question to which only he can know the answer. For example, when was the last time you visited your grandmother? Usually after this the “divorce” ends.
It can be even simpler - call your son back. It is unlikely that the scoundrels will stage this comedy at the very moment when your son’s phone is turned off; they have no way of knowing about this.
Yes, but what about the case when your son himself calls you? And this is not him, this is an imitator. This means that you have been eavesdropped on for quite some time. Unfortunately, this can happen not only to law enforcement agencies, but also to criminals. There is also this option: they not only overheard you, but also recorded a conversation with your son, then they made a suitable cut from his words, glued them together and now they let you listen.
In both cases, there is only one counteraction - call your son.
phone scammers
2. Huge conversation bill
There are a number of phone scams that can cost you a hefty phone bill. They call you from a number unknown to you, they immediately hang up, you call back out of curiosity and you are involved in a long and very expensive conversation, for example, with a nice girl. And the number you called back turns out to be a paid number and you receive a receipt for a huge amount.
Another option is that a phone number appears in a newspaper or on the Internet with an offer to buy something interesting at half price - a car, an apartment, a dacha. This is also a paid number. You call, they talk to you for a long, long time, and then they tell you that, alas, it has already been sold. Next, as usual, is a receipt for a tidy sum.
Next option. On the street, someone asks you for your phone to call your dying grandmother, but his phone is dead. And everything is needed very urgently. You give it, he calls a paid number, lies for a long time about his grandmother, then - see above.
Or so. You are told that you need to call such and such a (paid) number because... Then there are a million options, from a malfunction in your own network to the need to save someone’s life from something. Or you won a million - call such and such a number. Or you guessed right in the TV lottery - you call the specified number, etc. You can't list everything.
How to avoid getting caught
The simplest thing is to never call back unknown number! And if you don’t have your phone in memory notebook? Or suddenly an unknown person calls you with a really serious offer? It's more complicated here, but not much. Call back, and if you feel that the conversation is meaningless, not relevant, or is clearly being delayed on purpose, hang up. Really nice and decent girls do not communicate for a long time with unfamiliar men. And vice versa.
phone scammers
What if you do get caught?
There is nothing to think about here. As soon as you realize that you have been deceived, immediately contact the police. The Law comes into play.
We all intuitively understand what fraud is and how it differs, for example, from theft. But the law requires a precise definition, and this is how it is done in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:
Article 159. Fraud
Fraud, that is, the theft of someone else’s property or the acquisition of rights to someone else’s property through deception or abuse of trust.
Further, Article 159 describes in detail what punishment follows for fraud, including telephone fraud. The law distinguishes between several types of fraud and establishes various penalties. So, for “simply” fraud, this scoundrel is subject to a fine of up to 120 thousand rubles to imprisonment for up to two years.
For fraud committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy, as well as causing significant damage to a citizen, the scoundrels are liable to a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles to imprisonment for a term of up to five years.
For fraud committed by a person using his official position, as well as on a large scale, the scoundrels are entitled to a fine of up to 500 thousand rubles to imprisonment for a term of up to six years.
And finally, for fraud committed by an organized group or on a particularly large scale or resulting in the deprivation of a citizen’s right to residential premises, these scoundrels are subject to imprisonment for up to ten years with a fine of up to one million rubles.
Result
I have given here only extreme types of punishment; between them, the Law also provides for intermediate ones - a different amount of fine and a different term of imprisonment. Scammers who read these terms should understand that they cannot get away with chatter that they were just joking. Of course, if the deceived citizens contact the police in time and manage to extract from the scammers any information incriminating them - telephone number, car number, any noticeable features of behavior or speech, appearance etc. It's not easy, but it's worth a try. Maybe then it will be possible to return the stolen money. Although it is best, using the rules we have given, not to fall for the tricks of telephone scammers.
