How scammers find out a mobile number. Mobile phone fraud is a completely new and dangerous scheme

The technological world is constantly improving and developing. Along with it, new types of fraudulent activities appear, aimed at taking money away from gullible people. One of the most common is phone trickery. Despite the intensification of the fight against various types of fraud, it is telephone fraud that remains unpunished in 95% of cases. This is due to the fact that the existing bases did not cover all criminals, and the prescribed punishment is not enough to make such crimes unprofitable for fraudsters. Phone scammers: numbers and a list of phone scammers - this knowledge will allow you to protect a person while committing financial transactions or unexpected calls with a request to transfer money.

In order to avoid becoming a victim of deception, telephone crime, or deliberate fraud, you need to know what tricks people go to to get hold of the funds of gullible citizens. First of all, it should be remembered that today you can easily change your existing mobile phone number (it is from them that in most cases dubious calls come). At the same time, complete anonymity is maintained, so criminals long time manage to avoid being blacklisted.

A feature of scams involving phone numbers is that they can be registered on completely innocent people. The real scammers manage to stay in the shadows.

In order not to fall on the hook of swindlers, you should know not only where to look at the black list of phone numbers of scammers, but also by what methods they manage to commit crimes. There are several common and well-established schemes that do not lose their relevance for years, bringing considerable profit:

• Calls to parents;
• Love calls;
• Working / shopping on the Internet;
• Phone problems;
• Paid code;
• Sad story;
• Money transfer error;
• Calls from the person's mobile phone operator service;
• Blocked credit card;
• A prize won by a person.

Also, various draws can be attributed to dubious types of earnings, where a prerequisite is to make a call to a phone number and pay for every minute of the conversation.

Learn more about each type of fraud

Calls to parents or other relatives

Calls to parents or other relatives - a certain person calls and introduces himself as a friend, acquaintance of his daughter or son. Further, a story is told that a crime was committed (its type can be different - from hooliganism to the commission of an accident) and a certain amount of money is required. Sometimes a "policeman" is involved in the conversation, who is supposedly in charge of the case or is investigating this problem. A victim of this type of fraud is set the minimum terms for making a payment - from a few minutes to 1-2 hours. In 95% of cases, attackers make calls at night, so that a person cannot quickly navigate what is happening. The peculiarity of deception - scammers indicate a specific account to which money is required to be transferred, sometimes it is an ordinary card or phone number.

Love calls or flirting

Love calls or flirting is an equally common type of phone scam. Its essence is as follows: the victim's number receives a call, as soon as the person answers, the call is immediately interrupted. Fraudulent actions will work if a person calls back at the specified number - the girl answers him, she says that she simply made a mistake with the number, but does not refuse further conversation. The catch is that billing is very expensive and a decent amount is debited from the victim's number for a short conversation.

There is a database of fraudsters' phone numbers, which was formed as a result of people's appeals and complaints about text messages (SMS) with requests to return money mistakenly deposited into the account, or, alternatively, with a request to call back to the specified number, since there is no money in the account. Affectionate terms are used, such as "bunny" or "cat", which does not allow you to immediately recognize the deception, especially if the message arrives late at night. It is important to remember here that the number to which the message is sent is paid, the amount for a text SMS is debited much more than the victim's tariff suggests.

Internet offers

Work, shopping or various paid offers on the Internet - scammers use a rented phone number, which is a paid one. Most often, an advertisement for the work or sale of a product is placed on special sites. Feature - large discounts on products, promotions or special working conditions with high earnings with minimum employment - 1-3 hours a day. The victim of the scammers calls the phone specified for contacts, he is answered, but they say that it is necessary to wait 1-2 minutes, after that they explain that the selected product is sold or the vacancy is already occupied. As a result, 5-10 minutes of conversation pass, and an impressive amount is debited from the account of the caller.

Paid code

Paid code - this type of fraud is based on real codes that are intended to help subscribers of mobile networks. With their help, you can transfer funds from one to another number or call at the expense of another person, but not everyone remembers the real numbers of such codes. This is what swindlers use - calls are made from a number hidden from other people on behalf of a mobile operator. The essence of the call is that a person is asked to check the serviceability, since work is supposedly being carried out to improve the functionality. Also, as an option - the performance of a specific subscriber number. The person is sent a code that will need to be entered on the phone. After completing this action, all the subscriber's money on the account goes to the account associated with the number of the calling fraudster.

Sim card problems

Problems with the person's SIM card. In this case, the victim also receives a call from a representative of the cellular operator (in this case, these are scammers). The meaning of the call is that the victim is informed that there are some problems with his number. In order to correct them, scammers ask to send a certain text to the indicated (dictated) number, of course, it is paid.

Sad story

A sad story - this type of fraud involves a phone call to a person in which the interlocutor says that his relative is in the hospital, he needs to put money, since he does not have funds in this moment time (lost my job, urgent repairs). The victim in most cases tries to get into the situation, and transfers funds. Another option is that a person is approached right on the street with the same history, but they are asked to call, since his own phone is discharged. The bottom line is the following - the owner of the number is either the fraudster himself or his accomplice, the number to which the call is made is paid. The victim is deprived of all funds on the balance sheet.

Money transfer error

Money transfer error - this type of fraud is still popular today. A person receives a message that his balance has been replenished with a certain amount - usually 200-300 rubles, but sometimes the amount can reach several thousand. Immediately after that, a call comes from the fraudster with a request to return the funds. To do this, you need to dial the code. If a person types in the wrong number of zeros, then the amount goes to the swindler's account. Alternatively, the account may not be replenished, the message arrives using special program... If a person agrees to a refund, then he transfers his own money. Such methods of deception are aimed at older people to a greater extent.

Calls on behalf of a mobile operator

Calls on behalf of a mobile operator - this scam assumes that the scammers are calling their victim, posing as a mobile operator, reporting that a roaming call was made from this number without appropriate notification. At the moment, there is a penalty debt on the room, which must be paid. This can be done by purchasing several top-up cards. A person only has to dictate the codes from these cards to the "operator".

Imaginary card blocking

Another type of fraudulent activity is a message that a person has a blocked credit card. Most often, a text notification about the situation is sent to the victim's phone number. The SMS says that it is easy to fix the problem - you need to call the phone, which is free. After that, a dialogue takes place in which the scammers say that an unexpected server failure has occurred. The situation can be quickly corrected even now, but for this you will need to name the credit card number and its pin code.

Important to remember! This data cannot be transferred, since money from the account can be transferred without using a plastic card directly. This is helped by Internet technologies, in particular, online banking.

Winnings

Everyone loves to receive prizes - people with criminal intentions use this. The person selected for deception receives a call or a message that he has become a winner in some kind of lottery. It is reported that the prize is quite large - a phone, a TV or even a car. All you need to do is send a message to the specified number. This action is necessary to register and confirm your consent to participate. The text also asks to indicate the card details in order to receive monetary compensation for the prize received. The essence of the deception is as follows - the number to which the SIM is sent is paid, all funds from the balance are transferred to fraudsters, including credit ones. If the card data is sent, then all available funds are debited from it.

Prizes can be raffled off quite legally, but to receive them, you will need to call the specified phone number... The number is paid, you have to wait a long time, which affects the amount that a person pays. The likelihood that he will become the winner is extremely small. In addition, the operator has to wait a long time for a response.

Fraud protection

The main methods and measures of protection against deception

Not a single blacklist of fraudsters' phones has been compiled, but they are constantly being updated, therefore, before answering a call from an unknown or suspicious number, it is recommended to check it by filling in the numbers in the search. There are many existing fraudulent schemes, it is not possible to describe and list them all, so people should know how to protect themselves from possible fraud.

In order to get guaranteed protection from a person, not so much is required:

• Vigilance;
• Attention;
• Caution.

It is necessary to strictly adhere to some rules:

• Do not transfer card data to strangers;
• Do not provide your passport details;
• Do not tell PIN - code from a credit card;
• Remember that the legal actions of mobile operators do not imply the transfer of money from one subscriber's number to another.

It is important to remember that phone numbers should be memorized so as not to fall for deception. You should also not forget that calls and messages can be sent from the Web, where any data is entered, including the phones of cellular operators.

The person should know that all information that was received from unknown number, which may look truthful, needs careful verification - it is better to call back yourself using your operator's number. You should also do this if the call came from emergency services or the police for no apparent reason.

A good method of protection is to monitor thematic forums, as many people post fraudulent numbers.

An equally important step in protecting yourself from fraudulent activities will be to consider the information received. You should not immediately transfer funds or perform any actions with your credit card, you must carefully consider your further actions. It is best to immediately contact the operator or services on whose behalf the call was made, to call your relatives back on your own. Providers or mobile operators will never require confirmation of participation by payment, they will not ask for a card number or pin - code from her.

In the event that a call came from a bank representative, then you should not immediately provide all your data, several simple but important questions need to be asked, including:

• Contact details specified in the contract;
• Bank phone numbers;
• The department in which the contract was concluded.

After that, it is necessary to verify the received answers with the data that are written on the official website. Replies should be received immediately, which is a guarantee that they are not read from the site or searched on the Internet.

Protect your loved ones

Additional protection methods

• You cannot provide information about income or loans taken on the Internet;
• You cannot publish phone numbers;
• Indicate card numbers;
• Post accounts on social networks.

All this information will help scammers not only choose their victim, but also draw up a scheme of actions that will help create the most believable picture. Also, you should not give your phone to strangers who ask to call on the street. In addition, you cannot issue a SIM card in your own name if a stranger will use it, since all responsibility lies with the one whose name is indicated in the documents. It is very important to check your phone balance on a daily basis, as funds may be debited without notifying the user. If you suspect, you need to immediately notify your service provider of the problem in order to prevent fraudulent activities.

How to check a suspicious phone number: different ways

Mobile and Internet companies themselves are striving to protect their subscribers. Protection from swindlers involves not only communicating by official numbers, but also using specially created services. Each of the main operators has their own developments, such as sites with user information collected on them, including overviews of schemes and methods of protection against them, databases of phone numbers from which suspicious calls were received.

There are “black” and “white” phone lists, which enable people to determine who is calling them and for what purpose. There are also official prices - a list of services and prices for them that are provided to the user so that he can know when a call or SMS is free for him.

Several online services (sites or databases) have been created on the Internet that allow you to enter a phone number and find out if it is listed as fraudulent or is "white". With the help of such services, you can find out from which country or city the call was made, as this will help determine whether they are trying to deceive a person or not.

Short numbers are also collected in a separate database. By entering the one from which the call was made, you can find out if it is official. Also, the user will receive information which operator the specified one belongs to. short number... Today, it is not difficult to check the phones of fraudsters, but you need to remember - every day new numbers and methods of deception appear, so you should not lose your vigilance when communicating with strangers. Leading questions, direct requests for information that real providers should have, the ability to quickly navigate the situation - all this will help protect yourself from deception and criminal actions.

Conclusion

Telephone fraudsters already available in the databases: numbers and a list of telephone fraudsters, information about the schemes they have developed, will help protect against possible fraud. However, the scammers do not want to stop, and every day they develop new schemes, use new methods of deception. It is best for your own protection not to pick up the phone if an unfamiliar number is displayed. It should be immediately checked on the Internet to find out whether it is entered in special databases. If the conversation is already underway, then it is strictly forbidden to provide personal data or information regarding bank accounts, cards. If all the recommendations are followed, then the opportunities for deception will be less and less every day. It is very important to immediately call and notify your operator of the fact of fraud, as well as the police, because only there they will be able to help in the most difficult situations.

It depends only on the person himself whether he will fall into a trap set by fraudsters or will be able to protect himself from deception, thereby saving his finances.

Modern technologies have certainly made our life much easier and more interesting. Gadgets, cellular communications, the Internet and other benefits of civilization have become so firmly established in the life of most modern people that sometimes it is even incomprehensible how they did without all this a couple of decades ago.

But this phenomenon also has negative side... Technologies provide not only free access to any information, but also create conditions for the emergence of new ideas from swindlers and scammers. One of the most widespread types of criminal activity is telephone fraud. High-tech crime schemes range from the most primitive to complex and multi-stage, and the amounts that victims of dishonest telephone scammers lose annually amount to billions of rubles.

At the same time, the investigation of telephone fraud is significantly complicated by the fact that the criminal can act from a distance, being in another city or even a country. According to law enforcement agencies, even citizens who are already serving sentences in places of imprisonment for other crimes may be telephone scammers or their accomplices.

New types of cellular fraud are emerging quite often. But long-standing deception schemes still operate surprisingly well. Even the most cautious mobile phone owner can fall victim to a crime such as phone fraud.

Of course, it is very difficult to completely stop such criminals. But the best prevention of telephone fraud, which can significantly reduce crime in this area, is attentiveness, the most calm reaction to calls and messages from unfamiliar phone numbers and maximum awareness of the methods used by such criminals.

Are there any ways not to get caught in the network of telephone scammers, and is it possible to legally punish those who commit crimes with the help of mobile communications? First, let's look at the most common and well-known types of telephone fraud today.

"Mom, I'm in trouble! ..."

The most famous and, perhaps, widespread method of deceiving citizens and embezzling rather large sums of money is to ask for help on behalf of friends or relatives. Surely most of the owners of mobile phones have received SMS of this content at least once.

More complex scheme- a call from a person who may introduce himself as a police officer or prosecutor. In most cases, the "policeman" reports that one of the relatives has become a participant in an accident with grave consequences, and in order to avoid legal proceedings and responsibility, it is required to transfer a certain amount of money.

Worry for loved ones, excitement, surprise - this is what criminals who plan to commit fraud count on. With phone calls or messages about help, scammers most often manage to deceive the most gullible part of the population - the elderly.

Sometimes scammers just act at random, calling random callers. But there are types of phone scams, when fraudsters purposefully monitor wealthy people, collecting information about them and about their friends or relatives. The versions invented by criminals, in this case, can be incredibly coherent and convincing. To make the victim of a fraud believe and transfer money to the accounts of the scammers, telephone criminals use various methods using high-tech devices, for example, to simulate voices or process photographs of those on whose behalf they are calling.

Call or message to premium numbers

The method of phone deception, when the victim of a scam tries to call a paid phone number, is rightfully considered the oldest and most proven scheme. The simplest thing is that a person is called from an unknown number, but the call is abruptly terminated or dropped after dialing. When trying to call back, the subscriber either receives long beeps, or "communicates" with the included answering machine. In both cases, the call is paid, and the money from the account of the curious owner of the mobile phone goes to the accounts of the fraudster.

Fraud of phone numbers, for calls or messages to which you have to pay, is used very often and in a wide variety of variations. For example, dishonest people send SMS with a "profitable" offer to send a message in order to receive a certain small amount "as a gift" on the account. Most often, those who respond to this, not only do not replenish their account, but also the sent SMS costs several times more than the amount of the proposed "gift".

The content of SMS with requests to call the specified number can be very different: a plea to help a sick child, an offer to get to know each other, to change the tariff of a mobile phone to a more profitable one, greetings and congratulations from supposedly familiar people, etc. ... Sometimes scammers turn to passers-by on the street with a request lend a cell phone to "make a call." After one or several calls, the responsive owner of the mobile phone discovers that the balance is significantly lower.

Replenishment of someone else's phone account

Most often we are talking about a request from a "friend" or "child" with a request to top up the account of the number from which the message came. Another option is a call or SMS from a stranger who “accidentally made a mistake”, replenishing the balance of a mobile phone, put money not on his own number, but on the subscriber's number. And now ask to "return" the funds by replenishing the account of his "mobile phone". Of course, the money that the "victim of a deception" uses to replenish the balance of an imaginary friend or "inattentive subscriber" immediately goes to the fraudster's account.

Draws, prizes, lotteries

No less often, cases of telephone fraud are associated with various “great deals” that thousands of citizens receive every day via SMS. A drawing of a valuable prize from a mobile operator, a bank, a representative office of a well-known trademark, an announcement of a sale or purchases at a super-favorable price ... And for all this it is proposed to “just” deposit a small amount of money into the account indicated in the message. Of course, no one will benefit from this, except for the scammers themselves, who, as a result, will receive a decent profit from thousands of gullible people who have transferred money.

Receive funds from someone else's account cell phone scammers can do it in other ways as well. The most common of these is an offer to call back or send a response message in order to take part in the prize drawing. The number is paid.

Problems with a bank card (account)

The most primitive telephone scams bank cards or bills are designed for a person's fear of losing money and start in about the same way: an SMS comes to the phone from a "bank" or scammers call, posing as his employees. Information can be the most unpleasant, for example, that a bank card is blocked or there is a loan debt. In the best case, to clarify the situation, the owner of the phone is offered to call the operator of the "bank". Those who call back after that end up on a paid number and lose a large amount from their mobile phone account.

Much worse consequences occur if, at the request of the "bank", the owner of the phone informs the fraudsters of the card number and its PIN-code, the password from " Personal account»Internet versions of the bank, personal data and other information that should be kept secret. In such a situation, the money from the bank account of the deceived subscriber really disappears without a trace.

Code in message

A relatively new phone scam is associated with online stores selling virtual content, where you can pay for goods by entering the code sent to mobile phone buyer.

Fraudsters create a site with paid access to various melodies, pictures and other services. After that, the phone numbers of random subscribers are entered as the payer. SMS containing an access code are sent to the indicated numbers, the fraudsters can only call the recipients. Usually, the victims of scammers are told that a code was mistakenly sent to their number, and they are asked to simply dictate this code. Having learned the access code, the scammers "pay" for the content on their website by transferring money from the mobile phone account of the gullible subscriber.

The peculiarity of this method of deception is that even if it is possible to find telephone criminals, it is almost impossible to prove the fact of fraud. The only way to protect yourself from such an innovative deception is when you are in a similar situation, and in no case tell the callers any numbers and codes received in the message.

How to understand that a scammer is calling

The methods of “taking money from the population” listed above are among the most common. But this list of scams is far from exhaustive. New types of phone fraud are popping up every day. And yet, they all have common signs that should at least alert and force you to carefully analyze the received call or message:

• Unknown, hidden or unknown number from which a call is made or a message is sent.
• A special manner of communication. The main weapon of telephone scammers is surprise. “Urgent”, “quickly”, “immediately”, “I'll explain later”, “I need to faster” are frequent words and expressions from the vocabulary of such criminals. People who commit telephone fraud behave very confidently, can press, insist, or, on the contrary, try to win over the subscriber by any means. The main task in this case is to take by surprise, not to give thought, not to allow the future victim of telephone deception to doubt.
• There are no clear, direct answers to questions. Literally two or three clarifying or personal questions can confuse a telephone swindler, make him nervous.
• A request or even a request to provide any secret information or personal data: bank card number and pin code, personal information, passwords on the site, etc.
• "Free cheese". It is, of course, pleasant to receive the news of the victory in the competition. Especially if you don't participate in any contests. Prizes, lucrative offers, gifts for which you need to "pay extra", "make a deposit" or transfer the amount of money in some other way are one of the signs of telephone fraud.

How to respond to attempts to cheat

1. When receiving alarm calls or messages, the main thing is to try to calm down and not make decisions right away. Better to tell the caller right away that you need time to think things over.
2. The golden rule: never, under any circumstances, provide anyone with your personal data or confidential information: bank card pin code, account number, login and password from pages on social networks, on Internet sites, etc.
3. Ask questions. If the caller introduces himself as a police officer, bank, clinic doctor, insurance agent, the first thing to do is try to find out as much information as possible about the interlocutor. Simple questions, for example, the name and position of the caller, which police department, bank or insurance agency are calling from, the contact details of the head of the organization, how to find the official website, etc., will not confuse a real employee, and make fraudsters nervous.
4. Before responding to messages or calls from "relatives" or "friends", you need to try to get through to the person on whose behalf the message came, or someone from his loved ones with whom he may currently be.
5. Do not be lazy to search the Internet for information about contests and sweepstakes, in which you are encouraged to participate using SMS mailing. Often, deceived participants in such proposals leave cautionary responses on the forums.
6. Do not rush to transfer or give money. The requirement to deposit a sum of money, for example, as collateral in the drawing of prizes or to replenish the "control" account of the bank should immediately alert.

Is it possible to punish criminals

From all of the above, a reasonable conclusion can be drawn: it is quite possible to protect yourself from telephone deception by being vigilant and adequately assessing the information received from a suspicious number. But if a person nevertheless became a victim of swindlers, is there any point in asking for help from law enforcement agencies, and is there an article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for telephone fraud?

According to the legislation of our country, telephone scam is considered a crime and falls within the scope of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, that is, "Fraud". For a citizen who single-handedly committed telephone fraud, the articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provide for a fine, correctional labor or, depending on the scale of the crime committed and the damage caused, a real term of imprisonment of up to two years. For a group of fraudsters, respectively, both the amount of fines and the terms of punishment are significantly higher.

Who will help the victim?

It's hard to argue that The best way protect yourself - ignore suspicious calls or messages. But if telephone fraud is not suppressed, then sooner or later the scammers will be able to deceive the more gullible. Therefore, when trying to commit such a crime, one does not need to remain indifferent.

The first thing you need to know in order to stop phone fraud is where to go to prevent criminal activities. The most logical thing is to immediately call the police and tell about suspicious message(call). Also, it will not be superfluous to report telephone fraud in subscription service or the technical support service of the cellular company, from whose number the message (call) was received from the scammers. If the operator values ​​his own reputation, most likely, a decision will be made to block the suspicious number.

But what if the criminals did manage to commit telephone fraud? Where to go for help?

In a situation where the subscriber made a money transfer to fraudsters within one mobile network, there is a chance with a quick call to the operator to get your money back. To do this, you will need to submit an application for the return of this amount to the subscriber department. Unfortunately, if the fraudster's number belonged to another operator, it is impossible to return the money by transfer.

You should also immediately contact the nearest police station with a statement about the committed fraud. It will need to describe in detail all the circumstances: when and from which phone number the message came (the call was made), who called, what name, surname, position the fraudster presented, the essence and details of the conversation or message, the information that was required to be reported.

After the application is accepted and registered, a decision is made to initiate a criminal case within 10-30 days. But there is a high probability that this will be refused for any reason. At the same time, there is still a point in filing an application. In case of repeated similar cases of fraud or if the swindlers are detained, the fact of filing this application can be taken into account by the investigator and (or) the court.

This is often associated with the placement of advertisements for the purchase or sale of property on large trading platforms... There are three main elements that are commonly used to commit telephone scams. This is the mobile number, bank card number or the last name of the person.

Where to complain about phone scams?

Phone fraudsters with bank cards can do two types of things. They should be specified in more detail:

• When, under the pretext of blocking the system or transferring funds for a purchase on the Internet, they find out the card number and the transaction confirmation code. This information makes it possible to write off money from the account or transfer it to other accounts. Thus, phone scammers get full access to money by card number;
• When money is debited without contact with the victim. In this case, the method of committing the crime will not be reliably established. However, such theft of money is possible if the phone scammers know the card number or phone number.

In the first case, you must contact the police with a statement. On this fact, a check will be carried out and a decision will be made to initiate a criminal case if the amount of stolen money exceeds 2,500 rubles.

In the second case, you also need to contact the law enforcement agencies. After all, it is they who can and must look for criminals. However, when debiting funds in an unidentified way, that is, without direct contact with the victim, you should also contact the bank that issued the card. The fact is that since 2016, the Central Bank of Russia has ordered all banking institutions to compensate the victims for the stolen money. After all, it was the bank that did not provide adequate protection for the cards it issued, which made it possible to commit the crime. Therefore, they must compensate for the amount of losses.

How to Report Phone Scams - Sample Statement

Phone scammers can take possession of the applicant's money in other ways. Often this happens under the guise of providing certain services, solving various issues. In any case, fraudulent activities fall under Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Each such case should be the subject of a thorough investigation by law enforcement agencies. It should be said that you can contact the police both in writing and with an oral message by phone 02. The practice of not registering reports of such crimes has long been eliminated. Therefore, the relevant employee of the local internal affairs body will contact the applicant within 24 hours. He will properly draw up a statement and question the applicant about the circumstances of the incident. However, a correctly completed application will help the police. After all, you need to reflect all the significant facts and circumstances. The statement includes the arguments of the applicant and contains references to the norms of the Criminal Code.

How to recognize phone scammers?

Phone scammers operate according to certain patterns and are fairly easy to spot. It is enough to be attentive and not lose the ability to think logically. The main points to look out for are:

• If a person is in a hurry to make a deal. Phone scammers often act as buyers and insist on transferring money to the seller for the goods. He, in turn, being convinced of the purpose of the money specifically for him, gives the code and card number. After that, the funds are withdrawn. Therefore, if a person insists on a quick transfer of money, he should be treated with caution;
• When a person is not interested in the location of a product or does not want to inspect it, but asks for a card number, this is another sign of fraudsters. Such persons are not even interested in the opportunity to receive the goods, because they are not going to do this;
• When an SMS comes in about the blocking of a bank card, allegedly from the number 900, you should carefully consider the ad itself. Fraudulent messages will be sent from a regular number, and at the end of the message the numbers 900 are simply indicated and the person thinks that this is a message from Sberbank;
• If, during a telephone conversation, a scammer informs about the problems of your close relatives and offers to solve them by crediting money, this is a deception. Such issues are not so easily resolved. Thus, the main guarantee of saving your money is common sense and logic.

If you do not rush to make a decision, but think carefully about everything, the risk of losing money will decrease.

What can scammers do if they know a phone number?

The algorithm of actions is quite simple. The mobile number can be found on trading floors and similar resources. Then the criminals call the victim under the pretext of buying or selling the desired product. Then the usual misleading actions take place. The purpose is to obtain information about the card number and the confirmation code of the payment transaction.

How do scammers withdraw money from the phone when they call?

If connected certain programs, scammers can withdraw money when telephone conversation... Often, when checking the phone number of a fraudster, operators report that they are registered in Britain or Germany. This is the result of the action of special computer programs... In fact, the perpetrator may be in the next house. In case of such actions, you must complain to both the law enforcement agencies and your mobile operator.

Free legal advice:

23 mobile fraud schemes. From outright deception to "almost legal"

The inventiveness of the scammers does not stand still. As soon as the next scheme of deception becomes public, right there.

To date, a great variety of telephone tricks have bred, however, as a rule, they are based on several standard and rather simple schemes... Moreover, there are clearly illegal ways to get money out of you, and there are those that even the prosecutor's office will not be able to dig into. Here are the most common ones.

Send as many SMS as possible to such-and-such number and win a TV (car, trip, etc.)! Sounds familiar, doesn't it? And it is written in small letters that each short message costs one, two, or even more US dollars, and every thousandth wins. So it turns out, figuratively, that at best you win $ 100, while spending $ 1000 on emails. A very common "scam" that still finds its audience.

Receives an SMS with the following content: “System message. Stock! Transfer money to number such and such and get exactly twice as much! " Of course, all lovers of easy money start their trial small - they send, say, 100 rubles. They receive 200 rubles in response. Send 200 rubles - get 400 rubles. Wow, it works! And here it can suffer. They send, say, 2,000 rubles - everything that was on the account - and in return - nothing. We've just played a giveaway game with you using mobile transfer systems.

Free legal advice:

An SMS comes from a supposedly girl with an offer to meet. The target audience- exclusively men. A friendly lisp begins, a thirst to get to know each other better. He even sends you a photo. In general, we send some messages to an unfamiliar number, and then we look - again a decent amount has flowed from the account somewhere. Someone brilliantly played the role of "a girl who wants to get to know each other."

The most massive and hard-to-prove type of fraud that almost every owner of a mobile phone has encountered. SMS with a request: “I have run out of money, top up my account. Masha. " Some subscribers, especially people of retirement age, fund the account of scammers, thinking that someone from their acquaintances or close people is writing. Then, using the "mobile transfer" systems, the money goes to other phone numbers of the scammers, so that it is impossible to catch on to the first displayed number on the phones of numerous victims.

An SMS arrives, notifying you that funds have been credited to your account. HM. A few seconds later, the call. The voice informs that it has just mistakenly transferred the money to the wrong number, and asks to return it using the "Mobile Transfer" service. In fact, they are demanding a refund from your user account - which has not really changed. Not every subscriber will immediately clarify his balance, but is the account really replenished?

We want to deceive you. Confirm

Many operators have multiple tariffing services for subscribers. When ordering the service, we send an SMS to a short number. In response, we receive a request to confirm something additionally (age, desire to use the service, etc.). And the answer to such a request is charged according to some cosmic figures. Again deception.

A year of free calls!

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They allegedly call from a radio station for a joint action with your operator. Send the codes for two brand new payment cards and get a year of free calls! Of course, the telecom operator does not hold any shares in this way, and your money has been replenished with the scammers' accounts. There may be a variety of super advantageous lifetime rates offered.

Your SIM-card, having been in the hands of another person, can be copied to the computer's memory using a special device, and from there to a new SIM-card. Pirate equipment for these purposes can be found in the free sale on the network today. Moreover, the user of a duplicate of your SIM-card - and with it your number - can act quietly and carefully so that you do not immediately detect an unreasonable systematic leak of money from your personal account. How to protect yourself? As with a credit card, never let your SIM card out of sight, much less give it to strangers.

Support-1 speaking

A call to a telephone is presented by a subscriber service. The incoming phone number is either mobile or not detected. Dear client, says the engineer on duty Ivan Vasiliev. Our service is transferring telephones to another communication frequency (some technical work is being carried out there, etc.). Phone number, balance, everything else will not change, don't worry! Dial * 145 on the telephone keypad. Attention! * 145 * - this is the beginning of a combination of numbers, which begins the transfer of money from the personal account of one subscriber to the personal account of another. You voluntarily transfer money as part of the Mobile Transfer service. Irrevocably. Neither the operator nor the police will help you to return the naively lost.

Support-2 speaking

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Hello, technical support service, engineer on duty Vasily Ivanov. We are having technical problems here, your number is accidentally blocked and the caller ID information is incorrectly transmitted. Please call the number (they begin to dictate). Phone number paid service... That is, for a call to this phone, the amount N is withdrawn from your personal account, which is limited by the imagination of the “organizers of the service”. You should know that technical services mobile operators do not make such calls in principle.

Support-3 speaking

Hello, technical support service, engineer on duty Ivan Vasiliev. You changed your tariff plan without notifying our cellular company (you did not make timely payment, used roaming services, etc.). You need to pay such and such a fine by sending the payment card number to the specified phone.

Support-4 speaking

Technical support, Vasily Ivanov (call or SMS). Your phone is blocked, you need to call this number. At the other end of the line is an answering machine, which will briefly explain what needs to be done in order not to lose the old number or to confirm that you will continue to use the services of this network. There, of course, they will ask you to dial a certain combination of numbers to unlock. Such spam mailing is usually carried out in large quantities, with the expectation of gullible users.

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A call from an acquaintance (co-worker) of your relative or loved one. Like, there was a disaster (accident, explosion, it became bad on the street, an accident, another emergency). A call from someone else's number, because the battery of your wife (husband, child, grandmother, aunt, uncle, etc.) has run out. There is little money on the account, and in order to solve problems, you still need to call a lot. They urgently need to top up the balance of an unknown number. Quickly! Better - buy a top-up card and dictate secret code... A pure game of trust with many variations on the theme of people's concern for their loved ones. Night calls are especially effective, and even if the voice is presented by a traffic police officer or other law enforcement or security service. There are also more terrible cases when people are faced with blackmail and begging for kickbacks in continuation of the theme "your child was caught buying drugs."

An SMS comes with something like the following: “I have problems, call such and such a number, if the number does not answer, put so many rubles on it and call again”. Sometimes the message “I’m in the hospital, put the money on the number - then I’ll call you back” simply comes. Do not immediately rush to replenish the account of an unfamiliar number - most likely, this is a case of impudent fraud.

The alleged presenter of a well-known music radio station calls and congratulates on winning a valuable prize. To receive a prize, you need to call such and such a number of the radio station within a minute, where they once again congratulate you on your victory. It is possible that a feeling of joy has already swept over you, and you have become more trusting. In addition, you only need to buy a top-up card within half an hour and inform the “DJ” of its details - the last condition to collect the prize, for example, to pay VAT. At the radio station itself, as it turns out, no prize awaits you.

Expensive short number

With the help of short numbers (a set of four digits), you can call the rescue service, popular radio stations, get legal support, contact an insurance company, call a taxi and much more. Such services are provided by third-party providers under a formal agreement with your mobile operator on mutually beneficial terms. For the services rendered to each client of a cellular operator, the service provider probably deducts a percentage of the profit. You call on a specially indicated number for the appropriate reason. A person will provide you with information. He will ask you in detail, take a minute or two to search for answers to your specific questions. Well, then you will find out that for a conversation with a polite girl, a tidy sum was debited from the account, say $ 30 for 10 minutes of conversation! Deception? No, everything is fair. At the same time, various tricks are actively used to hide information about the cost. similar services... So that it was impossible to prosecute under the article "consumer fraud".

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The merciless deception of the deceiver

On e-mail a letter came with a proposal to download a program that can pick up a secret code for a hundred-dollar payment card. To do this, you need to fill in the code for a card worth, say, $ 10 in the program field. The real ten dollars float away to the fraudster, and in return you get a completely useless set of numbers.

Deceitful corporate rate

You get electronic message from a supposed employee large company responsible for connecting to the corporate tariff plan. They say, if you wish, for a certain bribe of about $ 50, you can also connect you on favorable terms. At the exit, it is promised to send by mail a SIM-card with a lifetime unlimited local communication, activated international roaming and a constantly maintained account balance of, say, $ 300. Moreover, as a telecom operator, you can choose any operator of the Big Three, since we are talking about connecting to a large transnational offshore corporation. The offer is valid for a week, as new employees are being hired, and all the registrations need to be done "on the sly".

Deceitful corporate tariff-2

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Private offer for a similar tariff plan... Without signing any contract. At a private meeting with an agent, handing over paper money, you receive a real SIM card in your hands. It is actually activated, and the agreed amount is on the account. But the happiness of the buyer does not last long, because The seller, having received the money, goes straight to the subscriber service center in the operator's office and, being the only legal owner of the number, simply receives a free duplicate of the SIM card that he allegedly lost. The one that remained in the hands of the buyer becomes invalid.

On the site, as a rule, of a small content provider, a number of interesting services are indicated that can be ordered for permanent use - access to movie collections, discounts on wap-traffic, caller identification services, etc. But in addition to sending an SMS request to a short number, it is proposed to dial a special code to activate it. And the code turns out to be the number assigned to the provider of paid telephone lines in the countries of America, Africa, Asia, Europe, etc. As a result, the user receives a bill for an expensive international call... Without the right to dispute the debited funds.

I didn’t sign a contract - pay anyway!

In January and February 2010, new information appeared about messages demanding payment of a mobile phone bill. Although people did not conclude contracts for the indicated numbers. It turned out that the fraudsters used the passport data of people not involved in the contract, subsequently presenting them with certain monetary claims. According to the MTS company, in 2009 about 20 thousand calls were recorded on the fact of fictitious contracts with this operator in Russia.

Unsubscribing from spam is worth a lot

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An SMS arrives that you have subscribed to a 7-day free weather forecast service, or to some other unexpected spam mailing. To disconnect, you need to dial STOP on such and such a four-digit number. Of course, there is not a word about this number on the operator's official website. And the money on the account will noticeably decrease.

Is it fantastic to write off a cosmic sum for picking up the phone?

Call from an unknown number. One has only to press the "answer" button, as money is debited from the account. As a result, there will be a decent amount. The same works and SMS with a request to call back to an unknown phone. Most likely, the scammers connect to the network in another region, and the service “call at the expense of the interlocutor” is activated on the number. And the write-off goes through a channel created by scammers specifically for these purposes.

Finally. According to Beeline, in January-February of this year, the number of requests for fraud to the central reference service fluctuated in the amount of messages per day. Often, employees of the mobile operators themselves, dealers and especially content providers of various sizes are involved in mobile fraud. The leaders in fraudulent abuse today are content providers - small firms that enter into partnership agreements with mobile operators to provide additional services in the field of mobile communications. They are focused on making quick income and getting out of the market.

In this regard, cellular operators began to reduce the number of partners who have the right to sell pictures, video clips, melodies and other types of content for mobile phones to their subscribers. Indeed, with a smaller number of providers, it is easier to monitor the quality and characteristics of the transmitted information. Also this year, mobile operators began to revise partnership agreements, adding a clause on the collection of fines comparable to the partner's monthly revenue on a particular short number. Thus cutting off unscrupulous players. Forcing others to more carefully conduct control activities among their subcontractors, because often short numbers are subleased, and it turns out that this third party becomes a fraud, and not the main tenant.

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Complex contractual relations sometimes cause difficulties in determining the guilt of specific companies. But in any case, the name of the mobile operator itself suffers. As a rule, we blame them for all mobile sins. This makes them more and more actively involved in the fight against mobile fraud, develop the function of requesting confirmation from the subscriber (to send a message to a short number, to pay for a service, etc.).

Talk to your operator, demand, threaten to refuse services in favor of a competitor. Today it is extremely important to master the topic of security on the mobile network, as well as on the Internet and the road network. Even if the green light comes on, you should still look around before crossing the road. Suddenly who rushes towards headlong and does not have time to brake? Then you will blame the traffic light malfunction?

The Arbitration Court of the Magadan Region found the mobile operator guilty of illegally debiting funds from the subscriber's account when using short SMS numbers. Until now, content providers renting such numbers from operators were responsible for similar situations. If the courts adopt the decision of the Magadan arbitration tribunal, mobile operators Serious fines are threatened: in 2009 fraudulent schemes through SMS payments accounted for $ 38-45.6 million.

Phone Fraud: Tricks of the Underworld. How to avoid becoming a victim of deception?

Modern technologies have certainly made our life much easier and more interesting. Gadgets, cellular communications, the Internet and other benefits of civilization have become so firmly established in the life of most modern people that sometimes it is even incomprehensible how they did without all this a couple of decades ago.

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But this phenomenon also has a negative side. Technologies provide not only free access to any information, but also create conditions for the emergence of new ideas from swindlers and scammers. One of the most widespread types of criminal activity is telephone fraud. High-tech crime schemes range from the most primitive to complex and multi-stage, and the amounts that victims of dishonest telephone scammers lose annually amount to billions of rubles.

At the same time, the investigation of telephone fraud is significantly complicated by the fact that the criminal can act from a distance, being in another city or even a country. According to law enforcement agencies, even citizens who are already serving sentences in places of imprisonment for other crimes may be telephone scammers or their accomplices.

New types of cellular fraud are emerging quite often. But long-standing deception schemes still operate surprisingly well. Even the most cautious mobile phone owner can fall victim to a crime such as phone fraud.

Of course, it is very difficult to completely stop such criminals. But the best prevention of telephone fraud, which can significantly reduce crime in this area, is attentiveness, the most calm reaction to calls and messages from unfamiliar phone numbers and maximum awareness of the methods used by such criminals.

Are there ways to avoid getting caught in the network of telephone scammers, and is it possible to legally punish those who commit crimes using mobile communications? First, let's look at the most common and well-known types of telephone fraud today.

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“Mom, I'm in trouble. "

The most famous and, perhaps, widespread method of deceiving citizens and embezzling rather large sums of money is to ask for help on behalf of friends or relatives. Surely most of the owners of mobile phones have received SMS of this content at least once.

A more complex scheme is a call from a person who may introduce himself as a police officer or prosecutor's office. In most cases, the "policeman" reports that one of the relatives has become a participant in an accident with grave consequences, and in order to avoid legal proceedings and responsibility, it is required to transfer a certain amount of money.

Worry for loved ones, excitement, surprise - this is what criminals who plan to commit fraud count on. With phone calls or messages about help, scammers most often manage to deceive the most gullible part of the population - the elderly.

Sometimes scammers just act at random, calling random callers. But there are types of phone scams, when fraudsters purposefully monitor wealthy people, collecting information about them and about their friends or relatives. The versions invented by criminals, in this case, can be incredibly coherent and convincing. To make the victim of a fraud believe and transfer money to the accounts of the scammers, telephone criminals use various methods using high-tech devices, for example, to simulate voices or process photographs of those on whose behalf they are calling.

Call or message to premium numbers

The method of phone deception, when the victim of a scam tries to call a paid phone number, is rightfully considered the oldest and most proven scheme. The simplest thing is that a person is called from an unknown number, but the call is abruptly terminated or dropped after dialing. When trying to call back, the subscriber either receives long beeps in response, or "communicates" with the answering machine turned on. In both cases, the call is paid, and the money from the account of the curious owner of the mobile phone goes to the accounts of the fraudster.

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Fraud of phone numbers, for calls or messages to which you have to pay, is used very often and in a wide variety of variations. For example, dishonest people send SMS with a "profitable" offer to send a message in order to receive a certain small amount "as a gift" on the account. Most often, those who respond to this, not only do not replenish their account, but also the sent SMS costs several times more than the amount of the proposed "gift".

The content of SMS with requests to call the specified number can be very different: a plea to help a sick child, an offer to get to know each other, to change the tariff of a mobile phone to a more profitable one, greetings and congratulations from supposedly familiar people, etc. Sometimes scammers ask passers-by on the street to borrow a cell phone to "make a call." After one or several calls, the responsive owner of the mobile phone discovers that the balance is significantly lower.

Replenishment of someone else's phone account

Most often we are talking about a request from a "friend" or "child" with a request to top up the account of the number from which the message came. Another option is a call or SMS from a stranger who “accidentally made a mistake”, replenishing the balance of a mobile phone, put money not on his own number, but on the subscriber's number. And now ask to "return" the funds by replenishing the account of his "mobile phone". Of course, the money that the "victim of a deception" uses to replenish the balance of an imaginary friend or "inattentive subscriber" immediately goes to the fraudster's account.

Draws, prizes, lotteries

No less often, cases of telephone fraud are associated with various “great deals” that thousands of citizens receive every day via SMS. A drawing of a valuable prize from a mobile operator, a bank, a representative office of a well-known trademark, an announcement of a sale or purchases at a super-favorable price ... And for all this it is proposed to “just” deposit a small amount of money into the account indicated in the message. Of course, no one will benefit from this, except for the scammers themselves, who, as a result, will receive a decent profit from thousands of gullible people who have transferred money.

Scammers can get funds from someone else's cell phone in other ways. The most common of these is an offer to call back or send a response message in order to take part in the prize drawing. The number is paid.

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Problems with a bank card (account)

The most primitive phone frauds with bank cards or accounts are designed for a person's fear of losing their savings and start in about the same way: an SMS from a “bank” arrives on the phone or the scammers call, posing as its employees. Information can be the most unpleasant, for example, that a bank card is blocked or there is a loan debt. In the best case, to clarify the situation, the owner of the phone is offered to call the operator of the "bank". Those who call back after that end up on a paid number and lose a large amount from their mobile phone account.

Much worse consequences occur if, at the request of the "bank", the owner of the phone informs the fraudsters of the card number and its PIN code, the password for the "Personal Account" of the bank's Internet version, personal data and other information that should be kept secret. In such a situation, the money from the bank account of the deceived subscriber really disappears without a trace.

Code in message

A relatively new phone scam is associated with online stores selling virtual content, where you can pay for an item by entering a code sent to a customer's mobile phone.

Fraudsters create a site with paid access to various melodies, pictures and other services. After that, the phone numbers of random subscribers are entered as the payer. SMS containing an access code are sent to the indicated numbers, the fraudsters can only call the recipients. Usually, the victims of scammers are told that a code was mistakenly sent to their number, and they are asked to simply dictate this code. Having learned the access code, the scammers "pay" for the content on their website by transferring money from the mobile phone account of the gullible subscriber.

The peculiarity of this method of deception is that even if it is possible to find telephone criminals, it is almost impossible to prove the fact of fraud. The only way to protect yourself from such an innovative deception is when you are in a similar situation, and in no case tell the callers any numbers and codes received in the message.

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How to understand that a scammer is calling

The methods of “taking money from the population” listed above are among the most common. But this list of scams is far from exhaustive. New types of phone fraud are popping up every day. And yet, they all have common signs that should at least alert and force you to carefully analyze the received call or message:

• Unknown, hidden or unknown number from which a call is made or a message is sent.
• A special manner of communication. The main weapon of telephone scammers is surprise. “Urgent”, “quickly”, “immediately”, “I'll explain later”, “I need to faster” are frequent words and expressions from the vocabulary of such criminals. People who commit telephone fraud behave very confidently, can press, insist, or, on the contrary, try to win over the subscriber by any means. The main task in this case is to take by surprise, not to give thought, not to allow the future victim of telephone deception to doubt.
• There are no clear, direct answers to questions. Literally two or three clarifying or personal questions can confuse a telephone swindler, make him nervous.
• A request or even a request to provide any secret information or personal data: bank card number and pin code, personal information, passwords on the site, etc.
• "Free cheese". It is, of course, pleasant to receive the news of the victory in the competition. Especially if you don't participate in any contests. Prizes, lucrative offers, gifts for which you need to "pay extra", "make a deposit" or transfer the amount of money in some other way are one of the signs of telephone fraud.

How to respond to attempts to cheat

1. When receiving alarm calls or messages, the main thing is to try to calm down and not make decisions right away. Better to tell the caller right away that you need time to think things over.
2. The golden rule: never, under any circumstances, provide anyone with your personal data or confidential information: bank card pin code, account number, login and password from pages on social networks, on Internet sites, etc.
3. Ask questions. If the caller introduces himself as a police officer, bank, clinic doctor, insurance agent, the first thing to do is try to find out as much information as possible about the interlocutor. Simple questions, for example, the name and position of the caller, which police department, bank or insurance agency are calling from, the contact details of the head of the organization, how to find the official website, etc., will not confuse a real employee, and make fraudsters nervous.
4. Before responding to messages or calls from "relatives" or "friends", you need to try to get through to the person on whose behalf the message came, or someone from his loved ones with whom he may currently be.
5. Do not be lazy to search the Internet for information about contests and sweepstakes, in which you are encouraged to participate using SMS mailing. Often, deceived participants in such proposals leave cautionary responses on the forums.
6. Do not rush to transfer or give money. The requirement to deposit a sum of money, for example, as collateral in the drawing of prizes or to replenish the "control" account of the bank should immediately alert.

Is it possible to punish criminals

From all of the above, a reasonable conclusion can be drawn: it is quite possible to protect yourself from telephone deception by being vigilant and adequately assessing the information received from a suspicious number. But if a person nevertheless became a victim of swindlers, is there any point in asking for help from law enforcement agencies, and is there an article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for telephone fraud?

According to the legislation of our country, telephone scam is considered a crime and falls within the scope of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, that is, "Fraud". For a citizen who single-handedly committed telephone fraud, the articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provide for a fine, correctional labor or, depending on the scale of the crime committed and the damage caused, a real term of imprisonment of up to two years. For a group of fraudsters, respectively, both the amount of fines and the terms of punishment are significantly higher.

Who will help the victim?

It's hard to argue that the best way to stay safe is to ignore suspicious calls or messages. But if telephone fraud is not suppressed, then sooner or later the scammers will be able to deceive the more gullible. Therefore, when trying to commit such a crime, one does not need to remain indifferent.

The first thing you need to know in order to stop phone fraud is where to go to prevent criminal activities. The most logical way is to immediately call the police and tell them about the suspicious message (call). Also, it will not be superfluous to report telephone fraud to the subscriber service or technical support service of the cellular company, from whose number the message (call) from the scammers came. If the operator values ​​his own reputation, most likely, a decision will be made to block the suspicious number.

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But what if the criminals did manage to commit telephone fraud? Where to go for help?

In a situation where a subscriber has transferred a sum of money to fraudsters within the same mobile network, there is a chance, upon a quick call to the operator, to get his money back. To do this, you will need to submit an application for the return of this amount to the subscriber department. Unfortunately, if the fraudster's number belonged to another operator, it is impossible to return the money by transfer.

You should also immediately contact the nearest police station with a statement about the committed fraud. It will need to describe in detail all the circumstances: when and from which phone number the message came (the call was made), who called, what name, surname, position the fraudster presented, the essence and details of the conversation or message, the information that was required to be reported.

After the application is accepted and registered, within a day, a decision is made to initiate a criminal case. But there is a high probability that this will be refused for any reason. At the same time, there is still a point in filing an application. In case of repeated similar cases of fraud or if the swindlers are detained, the fact of filing this application can be taken into account by the investigator and (or) the court.

In order to steal money from an account, cybercriminals need bank card details. The easiest way to get them is to call the victim and fraudulently find out the card number, expiration date and CVC code. Whoever the hunters for other people's finances seem to be: employees of the bank's security service, and representatives of the Pension Fund, and public utilities. Depending on the role they choose, fraudsters give different reasons why they need card details. For example, utilities report a debt for electricity and offer to pay it right now, in the so-called mobile mode, otherwise sanctions will be applied to the defaulter for electricity. Bankers may refer to the need to identify personal data, which is impossible to carry out without complete information on the card.

After the bewildered citizen informs the interlocutor of the card details, he will not pay any debt for electricity: the money from his account will move into the pockets of fraudsters.

Remember: neither the Pension Fund, nor the utilities, nor the bank call their clients and wards with a request to dictate information from a plastic card. This information is confidential and should only be known to one person: the cardholder. If you suddenly received a call from a bank or a housing and communal company, you can politely inform the caller that you cannot talk now, and then call the bank or housing management company and ask if their representatives are engaged in such a call.

Send messages

To achieve their goals, phone attackers use not only calls, but also SMS messages. “Last year, SMS fraud methods have also evolved. An SMS comes with the text: “A purchase has been made on your card and a certain amount is blocked, call this number,” said Artem Sychev, Deputy Head of the Main Department of Security and Information Protection of the Bank of Russia.

According to him, after the cardholder contacts the attackers, they try to find out his card number, account number, CVC code and other data. As a rule, persons in prison are engaged in SMS-mailing, which interferes with the investigation of crimes.

Asking for a bribe

Elderly people are most often the victims of this type of fraud. In fact, the scheme has existed for a very long time, but it is still popular with scammers. It looks like this: the grandmother / grandfather / dad / mom allegedly receives a call from the police and informs that their children / grandchildren have been detained, and in order not to start a criminal case, a certain amount is demanded from the dumbfounded relatives. Not so long ago, a group of swindlers who traded in such a deception was detained in Moscow. Their victims were 32 pensioners, who sent the criminals a total of 3 million rubles.

In such situations, in no case should you lose your composure. After talking with the so-called. a law enforcement officer, call your relatives and ask if it is true that they committed a crime and they were detained by the police. By the way, even if real policemen really called you and demanded money in order not to start a criminal case, keep in mind that giving a bribe is also a crime.

Intimidated

There are also scammers who pretend to be employees of medical institutions. The meaning of their activity is to convince the interlocutor that he is terminally ill and, if he wants to save his life, must transfer a tidy sum for treatment in an Israeli / German / Chinese clinic as soon as possible. “Isn't there such a big amount right now? It's okay, make an advance payment, and give the rest of the amount when the treatment starts. "

The treatment, however, will never begin. Having received the money, the scammers who recently took care of the health of the pensioner disappear in an unknown direction. By the way, there are cases when telephone scammers read out their diagnoses to their victims, as if holding a medical card in their hands.

Here you can cite a story from the Krasnoyarsk Territory, where the attackers found a seventy-year-old pensioner who had undergone surgery. They promised a resident of Lesosibirsk a quick recovery after surgery if he buys medicines from them. As a result, the man used these drugs for two years, but they did not help. During this time, he lost 730 thousand rubles, according to the local Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Confused numbers

Many of us confused the phone number when trying to top up the account, especially if the number is not ours, but of a relative or colleague. The money can then be returned by writing an appropriate application at the office where they were deposited. Fraudsters pretend not to know about such a possibility. It looks like this: the phone rings, on the other end of the line a woman in tears reports that she has transferred 500-1000 rubles to your number, and she herself lives in the village, and for her this is a huge amount. In general, please return.

You check the balance, indeed, there are 500-1000 rubles more. Moved by the history of a villager, citizens go to the nearest cell phone store and put money on the account of the unfortunate woman. And after a few days, the very same 500-1000 rubles, which the woman transferred by mistake, are debited from their accounts. After receiving your transfer, the fraudster wrote a claim for a refund, and the operator debited them from your account.

If you received a call with the same history, inform your interlocutor that the money can be returned by writing a claim at the place where the account was replenished. In addition, you can check the interlocutor by asking him to dictate his number, which was originally supposed to get the money. In theory, it should be similar to yours. Call this number. If on the other end of the line they have no idea of ​​either a villager or an erroneous transfer of funds, you will be convinced that scammers tried to break you.

Drop the call

Another unobvious, but growing fraudulent scheme: attackers make short calls to mobile numbers, the person sees the missed call, calls back, listens to a long advertisement, after which the call ends. And then it turns out that a significant amount was debited from his account for this call. By the way, the same situation can be not only with missed calls, but also with messages, for example, that funds have been debited from the subscriber's account, and in order to return them, you must immediately call back or send an SMS to the specified number.

If you received an SMS about debiting funds from a bank card, first of all, contact the bank of which you are a client and check if the information received in the message corresponds to reality. In 99% of cases, you will hear that these notifications have nothing to do with the credit institution.

We have become aware of a relatively new method of telephone deception. Fraudsters call the owners of mobile phones, whose numbers are linked to bank cards, and force them to transfer large amounts to their accounts. In order to become a victim, it is enough to dial a certain combination of numbers and symbols on the phone.

How to determine that they are trying to deceive you?

A fraudulent scheme will work if the victim's phone is tied to a bank card. If you receive notifications about card transactions (messages about the receipt and withdrawal of money), use mobile bank, - this means that your number is linked to the card, and you can manage your accounts through USSD requests

What can you do if you are the victim of a scam?

Igor Dorenkov, Head of the Legal Department, RO OZPPP Roskontrol:

A refund is most likely to occur if banks recognize it as massive fraud and classify such transfers as fraudulent. Otherwise, it will be very difficult for the victim to prove that he entered the request without realizing what it will lead to. The specificity of such a fraud lies precisely in the fact that for a bank, transfers look completely "ordinary".

The only thing that you can do on your own in this situation is to try to intercept the transfer right away by contacting the bank operator. But in such fraudulent schemes, money is often immediately withdrawn from the accounts, and it can be extremely difficult to catch the right moment.

The universal advice, of course, is not to enter commands into the phone that you are not one hundred percent sure of. And seek advice from tech-savvy relatives and friends if in doubt.