Scammers are increasingly employing sophisticated tactics to defraud Russians, capitalizing on current events and mere coincidences. This alarming trend was highlighted by Sergey Zolotukhin, an expert from F6, in a discussion.
Zolotukhin cited a recent example: «Following a DDoS attack on a telecom operator that disrupted home internet and intercom services, residents of affected buildings soon began receiving calls. These calls, purportedly offering to reorder keys for their intercoms, were, of course, from fraudsters.» This demonstrates how criminals swiftly adapt their schemes to ongoing events.
The expert also shared essential protection tips for situations where an unknown caller mentions an issue the person is genuinely facing. He stressed the importance of skepticism and remaining vigilant against «villains» when receiving calls or messages from unfamiliar numbers. Zolotukhin affirmed that it is always better to err on the side of caution than to risk losing one`s savings.
“Never share SMS verification codes with anyone. Make it a strict rule: anyone asking for a code over the phone is a scammer, and there`s no point in conversing with them. Revealing a code could lead to losing access to critical services, such as `Gosuslugi` (Russia’s public services portal). Furthermore, if you receive a call from someone claiming to be from your management company or service organization, always verify the information directly with them or consult your neighbors by asking in your building`s chat whether they know anything about it,” Zolotukhin advised.
This comes after earlier reports revealed another scheme where fraudsters devised a new method to steal data from Russian citizens. The Ministry of Internal Affairs previously warned that cybercriminals were sending fake emails or messages impersonating the State Traffic Inspectorate (ГИБДД) to residents, aiming to phish personal information.
