Criminals are now creating fake work group chats as a tactic to defraud Russian citizens. This new scam method was highlighted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) through their official Telegram channel.
The scam involves the victim receiving an invitation to a fabricated group chat that uses the authentic name of their workplace. This chat often includes fake profiles pretending to be colleagues, or even genuine coworkers who are themselves unknowingly part of the scheme.
Subsequently, a message, seemingly from a supervisor or manager, appears in the chat. This message typically demands urgent action, such as registering with a corporate bot, updating login details, or verifying access to a company resource. To finalize these steps, the victim is instructed to share a confirmation code they receive via SMS or push notification directly in the group chat.
Other participants in the chat then appear to share their own codes and receive praise from the supposed manager. The Ministry`s warning explained that «witnessing colleagues` actions and receiving seemingly official approval, combined with the artificial sense of urgency and peer pressure, causes the victim to lower their guard and publicly submit their confidential code into the chat as well.»
The MVD noted that employees in the education and healthcare sectors are frequently targeted by this particular scam. To protect themselves, the agency strongly advised Russians never to share confirmation codes with anyone.
In related news, Russians were previously alerted to a different scam where fraudsters pressure victims to take out a loan within a tight 40-minute deadline, contacting them again if they fail to respond within that time.
