Scammers have sharply intensified their activities amid the seasonal demand for air conditioner installation. According to MTS "Zashchitnik", in May 2026, interest in purchasing and installing climate control equipment increased by 22% compared to last year, which criminals took advantage of. "Izvestia" writes about this, citing cybersecurity experts.
The scheme exploits the psychological effect of heat and long queues for installation. Maxim Fedosenko, a leading analytical engineer at "Gazinformservice", explained to the publication that for a person suffering from the heat and waiting for installers for weeks, the offer to "install tomorrow and with a discount" seems like a lifesaver. Then the standard mechanics come into play: the dialogue is moved from a secure chat to a messenger, where the victim receives a phishing link for payment or a request to transfer an advance payment to a personal card. After the transaction, the fake seller disappears.
A more dangerous scenario aims at account theft. Konstantin Gorbunov, an expert at "Kod bezopasnosti", clarified that scammers quickly create fake one-page websites under the guise of promotions and surveys, collecting confidential data and documents there to hack accounts on "Gosuslugi".
Not only individuals are at risk, but also small businesses, for which an air conditioner breakdown can lead to losses, as well as owners of split systems with Wi-Fi modules integrated into a "smart home". Their firmware may be vulnerable to local network hacking. Experts advise checking store domains through WHOIS services, reading reviews of sellers, and not switching to third-party messengers from aggregator platforms.
Read more on the topic:
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