Cyber scammers are increasingly not starting with a frightening call from the "bank," but with a simple message from a supposed neighbor. One of the main trends of 2026 has been fake house chats on Telegram, according to a study by Win2Win Communications and Brand Analytics.
First, attackers create the illusion of familiar resident correspondence. Then they offer to vote for improvements, confirm data for the management company, or get a new intercom key. The ending is familiar: the person is asked to follow a link or provide a code from a message.
Another popular pretext is biometrics. Scammers call on behalf of various services and persuade people to urgently "protect," update, or confirm personal data. The calculation is based on the fact that the topic seems complex and the demand urgent.
The first schemes involving deepfakes – fake voices and videos of familiar people – have also appeared. However, this tool has not yet become widespread: more often, criminals still use simple scenarios where trust is created by a familiar avatar, a plausible chat, and a sense of urgency.
The main change is that attacks are becoming closer to everyday life. Now, a trap may not look like an obvious scammer's call, but like an ordinary message from a neighbor, a management company, or a relative.