Experts Sergey Zolotukhin and Dmitry Dudkov from the company F6 have warned Russian citizens that fraudsters are employing deceptive tactics to involve ordinary people in «dropping» activities without their knowledge. They shared ways to avoid becoming accomplices in such crimes.
Droppers are individuals who participate in financial crimes. Fraudsters transfer money stolen from victims into the droppers` bank accounts and instruct them to withdraw the cash or send it to another person, thereby concealing the crime`s true path.
According to the specialists, criminals lure people into these schemes by offering fake job opportunities, specifically mentioning roles like couriers or cryptocurrency exchange operators, or by promising payments of non-existent benefits. If someone accepts the offer, money is transferred into their account. The scammers then direct them to transfer these funds to another card or withdraw the cash and hand it over to a courier. Often, they allow the individual to keep a portion of the money as payment for the task.
Fraudsters also approach potential victims, asking them to open numerous bank accounts with different banks and provide the account details in exchange for compensation. Another method criminals use is installing malicious applications on the victim`s phone that intercept bank card data.
To avoid becoming involved in financial crimes, the F6 experts strongly advised never to give your bank cards to other people, share bank details, logins, passwords, or codes received via SMS. They also urged individuals not to install applications at someone else`s request and to absolutely avoid performing any transactions with strangers` bank cards, especially if payment is offered. Zolotukhin and Dudkov also stated that people should not register as sole proprietors (IP) or legal entities in their name at the request of unfamiliar individuals.
«Immediately notify your bank about any unexpected deposits into your card account,» the F6 experts concluded. They explained that sometimes scammers transfer money and then claim it was an error, asking you to transfer the amount back to a different account. The experts emphasized the importance of staying vigilant to prevent falling victim to such situations.
On June 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law introducing criminal liability for droppers. According to the document, accomplices in financial fraud can face fines up to 300 thousand rubles or imprisonment for up to three years. The law is scheduled to come into effect on July 5.
