According to MTS Red, on the eve of March 8, online scammers became more active.
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We are celebrating. And the scammers have fishing. They attract simpletons with tempting tricks like big discounts and sales. According to MTS Red, on the eve of March 8, online scammers became more active. They send letters supposedly from the largest markets: Ozone and Wildberry. We tell you what bait scammers use and how not to give them money.
“Follow this link”
The newsletter usually contains very attractive gift offers for March 8. Scammers encourage people to visit a phishing site or chat with a manager on WhatsApp or Telegram. And then enter your bank card details and pay for the goods that the victim, of course, will not receive.
In English, “phishing” means fishing. Using various tricks, the scammer tries to gain access to the victim’s important information: passport data, usernames/passwords, bank details. And then uses this information to steal money.
According to the latest data from Roskomnadzor, the volume of phishing grows every year. In 2023, the department blocked 42 thousand fraudulent resources. This is three times higher than the previous year. This year their number is even higher: 4.4 thousand in January alone.
The scam scheme used by phishers is the same. First you need to hook a person to the living. For example, intimidate: loss of money, access to an important account or… reputation. The second option is to attract it with some super benefit: passive income or successful investments. Well, the third thing is to attract him with something very attractive. Or even prohibited.
The scammer’s task is to convince the recipient of the letter or message that they should follow the sent link. And then there are several options for the development of events. Depending on the type of bait the potential victim was caught with.
In the case of the markets, the scam scheme is as follows. Once the letter is received, the user follows the link and arrives at the cloned site. Outwardly, it is almost no different from a real marketplace website. But in the browser line there is a different name. It differs in one letter or with a slight extension: a la ozon-vygoda.ru. It supposedly contains products with the biggest discounts. And then everything is the same as on a normal marketplace website: put the product in the cart, select the delivery point and pay by card. That’s all, really. After that, both your card details and money went to the scammers’ treasury.
As experts say, these sites last several days or a couple of weeks. After that they are blocked. And instead of them, scammers create others using a template. With similar names. And again, careless users are attacked. Already before the next big holidays.
How else do they deceive?
Another common trick of scammers is to “earn a lot, quickly and without doing anything.” They can reach victims through spam emails in the series “You are entitled to a payment of 132 thousand rubles. Take it now.” Or through advertising on search engines offering to earn fabulous payments on the stock or cryptocurrency market. To receive money, you need to register and link your bank card. Well, then… you will understand…
It would seem like a very clumsy scam. Well, who can fall in love with him? It turns out there are many. According to a recent Ozon survey, two-thirds of Russians have fallen victim to scammers when shopping online. One in three people lost more than 5,000 rubles, and one in thirty lost more than 50,000.
Another of the most common decoys: fake online appliance stores, fake travel agency pages and theater ticket reservation systems. They all offer super discounts. After payment, you wait for your product, but it does not arrive. Or you arrive at the door of the hotel, but they don’t have your reservation.
And, probably, the most current trend in the arsenal of professional “fishermen” is the deletion of accounts on social networks and instant messengers. We write about him. So be careful!
COUNCIL “KP”
How not to say goodbye to card data and money?
How to avoid becoming that same goldfish that ends up with nothing? There are several recommendations:
1. Try not to click on links from unknown sources. No matter how tempting their contents may be described to you. Especially if you don’t have an antivirus installed.
2. Use a virtual card, not a salary card, for online purchases. It can be created in the mobile application of any large bank. It is better to maintain a certain limit of money.
3. Carefully check the address of the site where you enter your card details. You can distinguish a double by limited functionality (for example, many sections are inactive), spelling errors, and payment directly on the site.
4. Follow the payment process. In official Marketplaces and online stores, it is not done through the store’s website, but through the payment gateway of a large bank. This is done specifically so that the store does not retain your card details and cannot use them at their own discretion.
5. Install two-factor authentication on your instant messaging and social media accounts. This means that to enter the application you need not only a password, but something else (code via SMS, Face-ID or confirmation by email). Additionally, in case of hacking or unauthorized login to your account from another device, you will receive a notification. And you can immediately kick the uninvited guest out of there.
