On the eve of the New Year, cases of fraud have become more frequent, associated with increased activity of citizens and pre-holiday bustle. This was announced on December 23, 2025 by information security expert Sergei Tunchik.
Attackers use schemes with raffles of tickets to concerts and festive events, offering participants to fill out a form with personal data and bank details for "payment of commission in case of winning." In fact, no drawing is held, and money is simply debited from the victim's card.
Fraudsters also use the popular game "Secret Santa", creating fake groups and mailings on social networks with the same card number. In addition, cases of creating fake sites that mimic platforms for participating in the game are recorded.
There are also often scams with the sale of tickets or tourist tours with "big discounts", as well as schemes promising "personal benefits" when booking hotels. The expert stressed that you should not leave personal data on third-party resources, and only secure payment gateways should be used for transfers. He recalled that the code from SMS is never requested by legal services - this is done exclusively by fraudsters.