The most cunning ways of SMS fraud. Various types of email scams

Modern technologies have certainly made our lives much easier and more interesting. Gadgets, cellular communications, the Internet and other benefits of civilization have become so firmly established in the everyday life of the majority modern people, that sometimes it’s even unclear how they managed 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 swindlers. One of the most widespread types of criminal acts 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 telephone fraud is significantly complicated by the fact that the criminal can act at a distance, being in another city or even country. According to law enforcement agencies, even citizens already serving sentences in prison for other crimes may turn out to be telephone scammers or their accomplices.

New types of fraud using cellular communication appear quite often. But for a long time existing schemes deceptions are still surprisingly successful. Even the most cautious owner can become a victim of a crime such as telephone fraud. mobile phone.

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

Are there ways to avoid falling into the trap 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.

“Mom, I’m in trouble!...”

The most famous and, perhaps, widespread way of deceiving citizens and embezzling quite large sums of money is asking for help on behalf of friends or relatives. Surely most mobile phone owners have received SMS messages of similar content at least once.

More complex circuit– 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 was involved in an accident with serious consequences, and in order to avoid litigation and liability, it is necessary to transfer a certain amount of money.

Concern for loved ones, excitement, surprise - this is what criminals planning to commit fraud are counting on. With phone calls or messages for help, scammers most often manage to deceive the most gullible part of the population - the elderly.

Sometimes scammers simply act at random, calling random subscribers. But there are types of telephone fraud when scammers deliberately watch wealthy people, collecting information about them and their friends or relatives. In this case, the versions invented by the criminals can be incredibly coherent and convincing. To trick victims of fraud into believing and transferring money to scammers’ accounts, telephone criminals use various methods, using high-tech devices, for example, to imitate the voice or process the photo of those on whose behalf they are calling.

Call or message to paid numbers

A method of telephone deception, when the victim of the scam tries to call paid number phone, is rightfully considered the oldest and most proven scheme. The simplest one is that the person gets a call from unknown number, but the call ends abruptly or is dropped after dialing. When trying to call back, the subscriber either receives a response long beeps, or “communicates” with the answering machine turned on. In both cases, the call is paid, and money from the account of the curious mobile phone owner is transferred to the account of the scammer.

Fraud by telephone numbers, for which you have to pay for calls or messages, is used very often and in a variety of variations. For example, unscrupulous people send SMS with a “lucrative” offer to send a message in order to receive some money into their account. a large amount"For a present". Most often, those who respond to this are not only not replenished, but the SMS sent costs several times more than the amount of the offered “gift”.

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

Top up someone else's phone

More often we're talking about 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” while replenishing the balance of his mobile phone, putting money not on his own number, but on the subscriber’s number. And now ask to “return” the funds by topping up his “mobile phone” account. Of course, the money with which the “victim of deception” replenishes the balance of an imaginary friend or “inattentive subscriber” immediately ends up in the fraudster’s account.

Raffles, prizes, lotteries

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

Receive funds from someone else's account cell phone scammers can do it in other ways. The most common of them is an offer to call back or send a return message to take part in a prize draw. The number is paid.

Problems with a bank card (account)

The most primitive telephone scams involving bank cards or accounts are designed to exploit a person’s fear of losing their savings and begin in much the same way: an SMS from the “bank” is sent to the phone, or scammers call, introducing themselves as its employees. The information can be the most unpleasant, for example, that a bank card is blocked or there is a loan debt. IN best case scenario To clarify the situation, the phone owner is asked to call the “bank” operator. Those who call back after this 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 phone owner tells the scammers the card number and its PIN code, password for “ Personal account» Internet versions of the bank, personal data and other information that should be kept secret. In such a situation, money from the bank account of the defrauded subscriber actually disappears without a trace.

Code in message

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

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

The peculiarity of this method of deception is that even if telephone criminals can be found, it is almost impossible to prove the fact of fraud. The only way to protect yourself from such innovative deception is to get into similar situation, do not under any circumstances tell callers any numbers or 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. Every day new types of telephone scams arise. And yet they all have general signs, which should at least alert you and force you to more carefully analyze the call or message you receive:

An unknown, hidden or unfamiliar number from which a call is made or a message is sent.
A special way of communicating. The main weapon of telephone scammers is surprise. “Urgent”, “quickly”, “immediately”, “I’ll explain later”, “need faster” – these are common words and expressions from the vocabulary of such criminals. People who commit telephone fraud behave very confidently, they can put pressure, insist, or, on the contrary, try to win over the subscriber by any means. the main task at the same time - to catch the future victim of telephone deception by surprise, not to give him time to think about it, not to allow him to doubt.
There are no clear, direct answers to the questions. Literally two or three clarifying or personal questions can confuse a telephone swindler and make him nervous.
A request or even a demand to communicate something secret information or personal data: number and PIN code bank card, personal information, website passwords, etc.
"Free cheese" It is, of course, pleasant to receive news of winning the competition. Especially if you don’t participate in any competitions. Prizes, profitable offer, gifts for which you need to “pay extra,” “make a deposit,” or otherwise transfer a sum of money are one of the signs of telephone fraud.

How to respond to attempts to deceive

When receiving alarming calls or messages, the main thing is to try to calm down and not make decisions right away. It is better to immediately tell the caller that you need time to think about everything.
Golden rule: never, under any circumstances, disclose your personal information to anyone or confidential information: bank card pin code, account number, login and password for pages in in social networks, on Internet sites, etc.
Ask questions. If the caller introduces himself as a police officer, bank officer, clinic doctor, insurance agent, the first thing to do is try to find out as much as possible more information about the interlocutor. Simple questions, for example, the name and position of the caller, which police department, bank or insurance agency they are calling from, contact details of the head of the organization, how to find the official website, etc. will not confuse a real employee, but will make scammers nervous.
Before responding to messages or calls from “relatives” or “friends,” you should try to call the person on whose behalf the message came, or one of his loved ones with whom he may currently be.
Take the time to search the Internet for information about competitions and sweepstakes that people are encouraged to participate in via SMS. Often deceived participants in such offers leave warning reviews on forums.
Do not rush to transfer or give money. A requirement to deposit a sum of money, for example, as a deposit for a prize draw or to replenish a bank’s “control” account should immediately raise red flags.

Is it possible to punish criminals

From all of the above we can conclude reasonable conclusion: It is quite possible to protect yourself from telephone scams by being vigilant and adequately assessing the information received from a suspicious number. But if a person nevertheless becomes a victim of scammers, is there any point in seeking help from law enforcement agencies, and is there an article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for telephone fraud?

By the legislation of our country, a telephone scam is considered a crime and falls under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, that is, “Fraud.” For a citizen who single-handedly commits telephone fraud, articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provide for punishment by a fine, correctional labor, or, depending on the scale of the crime committed and the damage caused, an actual prison term of up to two years. For a group of fraudsters, the amount of fines and sentences are, accordingly, 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 stopped, then sooner or later scammers will be able to deceive the more gullible. Therefore, when trying to commit such a crime, you should not remain indifferent.

The first thing you need to know to stop phone fraud is where to go to prevent criminal activities. The most logical thing to do is to immediately call the police and report the suspicious message (call). It is also a good idea to report telephone scams to subscriber service or service technical support cellular company, from whose number a message (call) was received from scammers. If the operator values its own reputation, most likely, a decision will be made to block the suspicious number.

But what to do if criminals still manage to commit telephone fraud? Where to go for help?

In a situation where a subscriber has transferred a sum of money to scammers within the same mobile network, there is a chance to get their money back if they quickly contact the operator. To do this you will need to submit to customer department application for the return of this amount. Unfortunately, if the scammer’s number belonged to another operator, it is impossible to return the money by transfer.

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

After the application is accepted and registered, a decision is made within 10-30 days to initiate a criminal case. But there is a high probability that this will be denied for some reason. However, 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 may be taken into account by the investigator and (or) the court.

Telephone scams are methods of extorting money using telephone communication, both mobile and stationary. These could be phone calls or SMS messages of a nature that force the victim to transfer funds. Fraudsters are attracted to such methods of work, since it is difficult to establish the identity of the culprit. In this article we will look at what to do if you receive an SMS from scammers.

Types of telephone fraud using SMS

An SMS scam involves sending information in a message aimed at tricking the victim into sending money to accounts, to a phone number, or to call back to an unknown number. Below are some examples of common scams.

Call for help from a relative

Fraudsters send messages like “Mom, I’m in the police,” “I hit a man, I was arrested,” “I urgently need your help,” etc. Sometimes the text directly asks you to transfer money to an account. If this is not the case, then the scammers hope that the victim will call back. The result of such a call could be extortion as early as telephone mode, withdrawing money from a phone account, etc.

Blocking a payment card

The victim receives an SMS on his phone like “Your card at Bank X is blocked. Call back at the specified phone number" If the owner of the number responds and calls back, there are two possible outcomes. The first one is already during phone call everything will be written off available funds from the account. Second - telephone scammer will introduce himself as a bank employee and offer to clarify the card details (number, expiration date and CV2 code). After receiving such information, all available funds are debited from the card.

Winnings in sweepstakes

The messages contain information that the subscriber has become the winner of a competition or drawing, but to receive the prize you need to call back the number specified in the SMS or transfer a small amount Money to the specified details.

Request to repay loan

The victim receives an SMS request to urgently repay the overdue debt, sometimes the details are immediately indicated. A victim who does have credit may transfer funds in a hurry. If there is no credit, the person calls and finds out the reason for receiving the message, and during the call, all funds are debited from the phone account.

Request to return an erroneous translation

Fraudsters inform the subscriber via SMS that funds were mistakenly transferred to his phone or card account. They are usually asked to return them by topping up their phone account. They usually indicate small amounts, hoping that the subscriber will not check his account, but will simply transfer the funds.

The above list of examples of SMS fraud is not exhaustive. Most of them are designed to get the victim to call back under the influence of emotions.

How to avoid becoming a victim of mobile phone fraud

When receiving a message of this nature, in order to avoid loss of funds, you must:

Assess the reality of the information. For example, think about where a relative who is supposedly in trouble might be located, whether accounts have ever been opened in a bank whose card appears to have been blocked, etc.
Pay attention to the sender's number. Fraudsters often use numbers that are similar to the number of the possible real sender. For example, one digit in a bank short number may be changed.
If the recipient decides to call back, then a minimum amount must be available on the account for debiting.

Where to contact

If the subscriber realizes that he has become a victim of telephone fraud via SMS, he must contact:

To the service center of the telephone network operator

This must be done in as soon as possible. Immediately after the call you must contact hotline operator, and then personally write a statement at the company’s office. But the operator can return the funds only if the scammer’s phone number also belongs to their network.

To the police

You must file a fraud report.
There is no strict form for a police report, but it must contain the following information:

name of the police station and full name of the head;
Full name of the victim, his passport details, residential address and contact telephone number;
date and time of receipt of SMS from scammers;
the number from which the message came;
full text of the message;
description of the subscriber’s actions (called back, transferred funds, etc.);
the amount of damage received.

A sample statement to the police regarding fraud can be downloaded in this article

The police must respond to the complaint within ten days. The result will be the initiation of a criminal case or refusal to initiate one. In the second case, the victim must be given a written response indicating the reason.

A specialist will advise you in the comments to the article

Money in a card account is the object of close attention of criminals who are well versed in psychology and take advantage of the gullibility of citizens. Incidents over the phone are a fairly common occurrence that most “plastic” holders have probably encountered.

Someone can immediately stop theft attempts personal funds from a bank account. And someone loses their hard-earned money after receiving a message from scammers or talking to them on the phone.

How to recognize hunters of other people's finances and not fall into the web of scammers?

The bank is calling

To communicate with a client on any issue, the bank uses several options:

sends a message to an email address;
calls your home, work or mobile phone;
sends SMS;
sends a letter by mail (“simple” or registered).

If the call actually came from a credit institution, the official number of the institution will be displayed - the service telephone number customer support, banking security service, etc. All these numbers are indicated in the agreement for the issue of the credit card and its servicing, as well as on the plastic itself on the reverse side.

An attempt to contact a client from a cell phone with a regular or unknown number should arouse suspicion. Most often, scammers call from a phone that is not displayed on the subscriber’s screen. Although you shouldn’t let your guard down even when the correct contact, since the security of GSM communications, unfortunately, is not without holes, and hackers can easily replace numbers using virus programs.

There is no need to answer a call that comes from unknown number. It’s better to wait a little and check the list of missed inboxes - the number from which they called may be displayed there.

If the call did not arouse suspicion and the person picked up the phone, then you need to ask the “bank employee” to introduce himself, tell which organization he is calling from and name contact number. After this, you need to contact your bank by official number, ask if there is such an employee, and state the situation.

The bank has all the information regarding the holder’s card account. Therefore, to verify the caller, you can also ask him a few questions:

how much money is currently in balance;
what are the last four digits of the credit card;
what are the bank details;
where you can go to resolve your issue.

You will not be able to obtain such information in a conversation with a scammer. You need to apologize, hang up and call your bank right away.

Fraudsters call “from the bank” and say...

Fraudsters use several scenarios to withdraw money from a card. The most common techniques are the following:

They scare. Hunters of other people's finances report that: the account is blocked, a fine has been charged for late payment on the loan, an attempt to make a suspicious transaction from a card has been recorded, etc. And in order to cancel the dubious transaction and protect the funds in the account, they suggest following the instructions of the calling “employee” and perform certain actions.
They're in a hurry. After the client names the data as his plastic card(number and three-digit code on the back), telephone attackers will require you to immediately tell them the confirmation password they received to cancel the transaction. This data is enough to steal money from a card account. As mentioned above, a real bank employee will not ask for card details, much less codes from SMS.

To avoid becoming a victim of telephone fraud involving bank cards, it is important to know and remember the following:

confirmation passwords received in banking alerts are intended only for personal input cardholder, they cannot be disclosed to anyone, including employees of a financial institution;
if a fraudulent transaction is suspected, banks themselves block accounts and contact clients to confirm or cancel the transaction;
haste and pressure - a clear sign deception, the bank does not need panic, but the thief is just right for it.

Messages from scammers: typos and malicious links

When receiving an SMS notification, you need to verify whether it was actually sent by the bank. To do this, you should carefully study the sender’s coordinates. Fraudsters can replace just one character in the name or phone number of an organization: not 900, but 909, not SBERBANK, but SBERBANC, For example. From a smartphone, you can suspect fraud if the SMS does not arrive in the chain of previous bank messages, but separately.

To fix the problem with the card, the attackers offer to follow the link provided in the SMS. According to her gullible user falls into malware, replacing phone numbers and sending messages without the client's knowledge.

When visiting a viral link, you need to urgently remove the SIM card from your smartphone and insert it into regular phone for a while. Then, after taking a screenshot of the suspicious message and discarding everything you need, return to the factory settings of the device. You also need to install a license antivirus program.

It is also worth mentioning messages with offers about win-win lotteries, unexpected wins, free training etc. Here the scheme of fraud with bank cards is as follows:

gift lovers provide thieves with bank card details to transfer the prize amount;
or transfer an advance payment for studies.

Well, it’s clear what the attackers are doing.

A series of messages and a call

Another deception scenario is a few SMS and a call. Two messages arrive:

with a text about a transfer of several thousand rubles and a number to which you need to send an SMS if the client has not performed this operation;
the second is about blocking the account due to a suspicious transaction.

Immediately a call is heard, as if from a bank, and a telephone play begins according to a well-known scheme. It is clear that you should not be persuaded and provide information about card data and SMS passwords. Need to:

take screenshots of SMS notifications;
report the incident to the bank;
with desktop computer check your account.

Fraudsters debited money from the card. What to do?

Unfortunately, not all clients show the necessary caution and vigilance. The attempts of deceivers are successful. If you lose money from your card account due to your own negligence, all that remains is:

call the bank and block the credit card;
take screenshots of messages and copy the numbers from which the scammers called;
come to the bank and write an application;
do the same with the police.

Sometimes they can actually call from a bank, of which the person is not even a client, with claims regarding loan debt. This is quite possible if the number was intentionally or mistakenly indicated in the application form of a borrower as additional contact or as the number of the guarantor for the loan. In such a situation, you will have to personally visit the office of the credit institution to resolve the misunderstanding.

In any case, you should contact the bank’s specialists and find out if there are any problems with the account. This will not only protect your money, but will also help the security service of the credit institution to resist SMS fraud with bank cards.

Slicksters rely on people’s gullibility and the habit of reacting immediately - by calling or writing an SMS. Find out all about the most common mobile phone scams.

How do you get scammed for money via SMS?

The case with relatives

The swindler introduces himself as a relative, co-worker or friend of the subscriber and excitedly reports that he is in trouble (he hit a person, had an accident, is in police custody) and his phone is broken (it was taken by bandits, it was lost, the batteries are dead) and he had to call from someone else’s. You need to call again different places, so you need to top up your balance. After the replenishment, the person calls back and happily reports that everything is settled. You just need to transfer the money to the intermediaries at the appointed place.

Scammers offer a service to determine the location of a subscriber using a mobile number. To use the “service”, a person is recommended to first register at help SMS: you need to give answers to some questions, and for each message you will be removed a certain amount. As a result, a person receives a link with all known information.

Your credit card is blocked!

The client receives an SMS indicating that his card has been blocked. A telephone number is also indicated where you should call back. After the call, the swindlers report that there was a failure on the bank’s server and they need bank card details to troubleshoot the problem. After this, scammers use the information for their own purposes.

Loan debt

First, you receive an SMS: “You have been denied a loan by Bank X.” A few days later, it arrives new call. The answering machine, on behalf of Bank X, reports: “We remind you of the need to repay your loan. To listen to the message again, press 1. To connect to an operator, press 2.” In the process of communicating with the “false operator,” information about his accounts, credit card numbers, and personal data is extracted from the victim.

Send an SMS and you will get a more favorable rate!

The client, without taking into account the number from which the message was sent, sends an SMS to receive more favorable tariff. As a result, you are left with the old tariff, but without a certain amount of money.

Proposal to get rich

The scammers send SMS with approximately the following content: “Everyone should know this! There is one alternative to make a profit via mobile phone; it will be impossible to withdraw money immediately, but it will be credited to your account. SMS is free! Tested by many...” The following describes in detail what should be done. The scammers guarantee that within a few minutes the subscriber’s account will increase by a certain amount of money, and the SMS turns out to be paid.

Need work?

In any job advertisements, it is recommended to send an SMS or call a short number to receive information. As a result, money disappears from the account.

How to protect yourself from SMS scammers?

Unfortunately the scammers in mobile networks doesn't get smaller. If subscribers stop falling for the bait, or one method of deception, the attackers quickly come up with a new one. To avoid becoming a victim of such schemes, it is best to ignore such messages.

But if you still decide to check the information, first of all make sure that the number you should call back to is not a short number. You also need to follow a simple rule - read the terms and conditions under which the “service” is provided. Remember that any overly simplified procedure for changing tariffs looks very suspicious. It is best to call back to a previously known operator number and under no circumstances call back or send SMS to unfamiliar or short numbers.

If the matter concerns your relative or friend and he needs help, try to call back to a loved one at a number known to you or contact him in another way.

You also need to know that bank employees are strictly prohibited from asking clients about the details of their bank cards. After receiving the message, check the information received by calling your bank’s call center. And most importantly, be careful and careful, and you will never become a victim of mobile scammers.

The most common SMS scam today

What new things can we expect from mobile scammers in the future? Obviously, the methods of extracting money will become more sophisticated. Perhaps the tricksters will use their skill against NFC technology, which allows you to produce mobile payments for a purchase in a store, or for travel on the subway, by holding the handset to a specially installed payment terminal.

Lately A method that has gained popularity is asking to return money allegedly accidentally sent to your account. First, the subscriber receives an SMS that someone has transferred a certain amount to his account. And soon an SMS is received saying that this is a mistake and begging for a refund. In this case, you must definitely check the status of your account by checking with the operator or sending a request to see if there have been any top-ups during the day.

According to the site, when the first phones were not yet able to receive and send SMS, there was no such fraud, but the gadgets were far from what they are today. You can read more about them.
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Instructions

There are currently a lot of ways to cheat using SMS. It is difficult to describe them all, as well as the algorithm of actions of the recipient of such messages, in one article. But you can give general recommendations, which, however, will be very effective in each case. First of all, if you receive a suspicious message from an unfamiliar number, which in one way or another encourages you to transfer money to coordinates unknown to you, you should immediately understand that it is a scammer. No matter what name he writes on: from a relative, bank, mobile operator, etc.

You need to be very vigilant before sending SMS to short numbers. At the same time, you should not disclose your personal data, including bank card details and codes (real bank employees will never ask you for a PIN code or three-digit number), and also be careful when clicking on links contained in SMS messages from short numbers.

Large mobile operators are trying to protect their consumers from SMS scammers. Typically they provide free service via SMS messages (reception and sending) to short numbers, or allow you to find out the exact cost of SMS to a short number before sending it. Take advantage of these services. Also, if your phone is connected to the Internet, you need to install a good antivirus program on it and make sure it is always up to date virus databases with regular updates.

If, despite all the warnings described above, you still become a victim of SMS scammers, you need to notify your mobile operator, as well as the short number provider (you can find out who the provider is on the corporate website mobile operator) about the fact of fraud and illegal debiting of funds from the account, if this was done using short number; or contact the police with a statement if unknown persons demand that you transfer money, introducing themselves as bank employees, relatives, etc.

Helpful advice

If you have artistic talent, you can get great moral and small monetary pleasure from communicating with an attacker. So you can explain, for example, to a “bank employee” (who is probably calling you from places not so remote) that you would be happy to send an SMS to unknown number with your bank card details, but you, of course, much to your regret, are running out of money on your phone and to receive further instructions from the “bank employee” you would like to ask him to transfer 300 rubles to your phone. If you are an artist, you can receive a small compensation for moral damages from a call from scammers.