White gold
Dozens of scam sites have appeared on RuNet, offering to buy printer paper at affordable prices. This was reported to socialbites.ca by Igor Sergienko, Deputy CEO of Infosecurity a Softline Company, a developer of protection against leaks, corporate fraud and other digital threats.
“The websites appeared two weeks ago when there was a sudden demand for the paper,” Sergienko said.
Alexander Dvoryansky, Special Projects Director of Angara Security, one of the largest companies in the Russian information security market, shared similar statistics with socialbites.ca.
From March 7 to April 7, the company’s analysts registered the appearance of at least 65 domains with the words paper or bumaga.
“They primarily deal with office paper, but there is also a site on our list that is also “secretly” registered, selling toilet paper only, Dvoryansky said.
In addition, scammers speculating about paper shortages are increasingly expanding the geography of their activities. Previously, they were only interested in Russia, then in recent days they have noticed that their attention has also spread to Belarus and Kazakhstan, the expert said.
“As for brands, SvetoCopy office paper more often than others. A site actively imitates the official representative of this brand. Some sites use the green and white color scheme typical for this brand,” stressed Dvoryansky.
The appearance of such sites was also confirmed by the head of Zecurion’s analytical center, Vladimir Ulyanov. The expert did not specify the exact number of discovered sources, but noted that scammers use websites not only to “sell” paper, but also create accounts on social networks and send emails.
“Scammers are very sensitive to the news agenda, and the shortage of writing papers did not get past them. Previously, currency conversion, selling gadget stocks at “old prices”, sales from store closures, etc. They are trying to make money on this as they do on the subject. In most cases, the deceived do not get anything – they just lose money, ”the author said.
How does it look
According to Infosecurity a Softline Company, the phishing nature of detected resources is indicated by many factors. Starting from a very recent registration date and ending with dubious statements about the parties and organizations themselves.
On one of these sites, reviewed by socialbites.ca, it is said that the online store is not a trading company, but “something else”, that is, a team formed by one of the leading analysts of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. 2014, when Russia received the first sanctions from the world for the annexation of Crimea.
“We receive information about which goods will increase in price significantly in the near future. We store these goods in wagons, wait a few weeks, and when the price goes up we sell them at a double or triple profit margin,” the definition of “crew” reads.
In addition, scammers refer to reviews left by non-existent users on a fake site that imitates Yandex.Market.
Dirty legal entity
Igor Sergienko also noted that for further persuasion, paper “sellers” issue invoices on behalf of operating companies such as LLC. In this case, the victim may be confused only by the fact that the represented companies are not related to the stationery trade. However, for this, a potential scam client must do at least a basic, but still a partner verification.
“It is not difficult for an extra to register a fictitious legal entity. Dozens of fraud scenarios are associated with such legal entities, especially with a bogus partnership.
In addition to registering legal entities, you can buy ready-made. There are thousands of offers on the black market for the sale of firms with all documents and bank accounts.
Our ETHICS service has a module that monitors such proposals, ”explained the expert.
Evgeny Egorov, Principal Analyst of the Digital Risk Protection Group-IB Department, also noted that invoicing from a legal entity is not a 100% security guarantee. You should not rely on such an argument, especially when it comes to large transactions.
“There are many options for how attackers get paid. Registration of legal entities is one of them. It’s not easy, but you can find sales offers on the Internet to commit fraudulent transactions on behalf of organizations.
Therefore, according to Sergienko, tax authorities have requirements for “due diligence” and verification of counterparties. Finding and tracking a legal entity is much more difficult, as the data specified in the founding documents may not correspond to reality.
In order not to encounter scammers on Runet, experts recommend following the basic rules, namely, checking the registration date of sites through Who is service and staying away from those that have appeared recently. Additionally, especially when it comes to large amounts, you should watch out for typos and informal speech turns in texts, as well as checking with counterparties before making a deal.