Scammers have started to prepare more thoroughly for attacks on Russians and gather information about potential victims in advance. According to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, attackers study a person's social networks, profession, interests, family circumstances, and digital habits.
The information obtained is used to create a personal legend. Instead of a standard message or call, scammers try to link the story to real events from a person's life to make it look more plausible and arouse less suspicion.
The attack itself can consist of several stages. For example, first, the victim is sent a message with a phishing link, then they receive a call allegedly from a bank or the police demanding money transfers. After that, another participant can be included in the scheme — for example, a courier.
Attackers try to gradually increase pressure and confirm their own legend through various communication channels. The more information they manage to gather about a person in advance, the more convincing such a scenario can appear.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs warns that even a message that mentions real details of a person's life does not, by itself, confirm the sender's identity. Special caution should be exercised with requests to follow a link, provide data, or urgently transfer money.