The woman received a call from the so-called intelligence services and was told that the money in her account had been transferred to a specific extremist organization. To prevent the movement of funds, he has to withdraw all the money from his account, also take out a loan and deposit the entire amount into the so-called safe account. While the woman was walking from one bank to another, she was hit by a car. Accident. The injured woman was taken to the hospital with a bag full of money. However, this was not enough for the people who called first on behalf of intelligence and then on behalf of the Central Bank. They then sent a courier to the woman in the hospital, who took the money from her. She gave them voluntarily. No violence, no robbery. They write that an investigation will be opened into fraud.
This is not the script of a humorous program or the performance of an absurd comedy. This is news. This week’s news. While they’re checking in there, we’ll try to give them a quick cybersecurity lesson.
There is such a thing as missing. No, this is not a typo. Vishing is a type of phone scam. Everyone has probably heard of phishing; This is when you receive a spoofed email. Text that contains a link that will accidentally download malware, or text that contains some type of financial requirement. But you see, retirees don’t use email much. They use the phone and instant messaging programs. Retirees are also a very productive target audience for fraudsters. Firstly, it is easy to scare them, they often act on the principle of “no matter what”, secondly, they usually have some kind of savings, thirdly, they usually have a good credit history – they are given a loan against a small monthly payment, because the pensioner’s income in the form of a pension is the most At least it’s stable.
And if there is money somewhere, there will always be people ready to take it. Including illegal methods. Now we will not go into the geography where these fraudulent call centers are located. They exist in Europe and Transbaikalia. It is not so important where they call from to extort money and with what ideological message they call. It is important that they seek, and even more important that people still fall victim to the same desire.
And every day we see news that people who are generally intelligent and even familiar with the basics of cybersecurity are responding to calls from numbers they do not recognize, believing that they are calling from law enforcement agencies or the Central Bank, withdrawing all the money from their accounts and transferring them. to some other complete strangers.
You need to remember a few simple rules. Remember these and pass them on to all your friends, especially your elderly relatives.
First of all, you do not need a search by “law enforcement” (let’s call it general). If the government needs you for any reason, it will send you a summons or notice from the government services website. And then you will have time to understand what is what, whether it interests you and whether it requires any action. No “investigator Petrov” will call you. And if so, let it be his problem that he can’t reach you. You should not believe calls from so-called government agencies; You should always consider that scammers are calling you.
Second, banks don’t call about things that are important to you. If there is a problem with your account, it will simply be blocked and you will find out about it in the banking application. And now everyone uses banking applications – because how else can you transfer 235 rubles for vegetables purchased in the metro? The bank may call with a loan offer, but you are an adult, you yourself know what kind of loan and when exactly you need it. Do you need a loan now? NO? Then you have nothing to talk about with the bank.
Third, you will never receive a call from the Central Bank. Because there is no need for direct communication between the Central Bank and ordinary citizens. They don’t need you, you don’t need them, there’s nothing to talk about. If they say they are calling from the Central Bank, hang up.
Fourth, look for an app in your mobile phone’s app store that shows whether an incoming call would be useful. It is clear that sometimes we need to receive calls from numbers we do not know – couriers, deliveries, taxis, just from people who are not yet registered in the memory of your phone. Special applications – there are many of them, we will not advertise them – will show you whether this number is considered reliable or has received complaints that it is fraudulent.
Fifth, take care of yourself and your loved ones. Remember that desire is a terrible and pervasive evil. No one will tell you exactly how much money people sent to scammers, but in 2022 alone, according to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation – 15,000,000,000 rubles. I believe the actual amount is much higher. Don’t be the one to increase it a little more.
The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the position of the editors.