Cyber fraudsters are actively distributing sophisticated phishing emails that skillfully mimic official notifications from Russia`s «Gosuslugi» (Public Services) portal. The primary goal of these messages is to induce panic in users by falsely reporting unauthorized access to their accounts from unfamiliar locations.
Daniil Borislavsky, product director for information security at Kontur.Egida`s Staffcop, informed RIA Novosti that there has been a significant surge in such reports over recent weeks. The expert noted that these fake notifications appear highly convincing, providing fabricated technical details such as date, time, IP address, and browser type. All of this creates the illusion of a genuine alert from the government service.
The scammers` main tactic is to persuade recipients to call a «support» number provided in the email. If a user makes the call, the fraudsters then employ a well-known scheme to trick them into revealing an SMS verification code, which is subsequently used to gain full access to the user`s account.
Borislavsky emphasized that these emails are designed to provoke an impulsive, panicked reaction. He strongly advises users not to call any numbers listed in such messages. Instead, such phishing emails should be immediately marked as spam and deleted.
It`s worth noting that this is not an isolated incident of similar fraudulent schemes. Previous cases have been recorded where malicious actors posed as employees of the new Russian messenger «Max» to steal Russian citizens` «Gosuslugi» accounts.
