Scammers have devised a new scheme to deceive Russians, consisting of two stages. Attackers hack social media accounts to damage their owners' reputations and then obtain money. This was reported by Alla Khrapunova, an expert at the "People's Front. Analytics" direction.
We all know that at the government level, the digital space is being monitored to prevent statements of a certain nature, which include far-right views. Such individuals are held accountable, and quite a few articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation have been developed. Thus, attackers can damage the reputation of the account owner, and possibly their normal course of life.
In case of unauthorized access to a social media profile, it is necessary to promptly contact the support service, report the incident, and provide evidence of the hack.
If you receive calls from so-called "helpers" who supposedly want to protect you from the negative consequences of publications on social networks, it is better not to engage in dialogue with them and not trust them. Often, such calls are part of a fraudulent scheme, and they may be followed by an offer of "help and support," the specialist warned.
The second stage, as Khrapunova noted, can proceed according to different scenarios. One of them is when scammers demand that the victim pay for help.
They may also ask to assist in the "investigation of a crime" to avoid criminal prosecution. Incitement to terrorism, arson—victims believe that they are helping the police investigate something. This is done at the direction of scammers.
Earlier, VTB Bank discovered a new and more sophisticated fraud scheme. The main goal of the attackers is to create a false sense of security for the victim, convincing them that when communicating with them, it is not necessary to report codes from SMS messages.
Read materials on the topic:
Scammers offer "help" to victims of fraud: how not to become a victim of a new scheme
Roskomnadzor stated that they do not collect data to track user activity
Leased WhatsApp for 200 rubles—get 10 years in prison: easy money can turn into a criminal charge
