Telephone fraud

Main article: Crime in Russia

Social engineering

Main article: Social engineering

To deceive their victims, telephone scammers use social engineering techniques.

Bank card fraud

• Bank card and payment fraud

Telephone fraudster schemes

• Telephone fraudster schemes

Victims of phone scammers

Main article: Victims of phone scammers

Fighting phone fraud

Main article: Fighting phone fraud

2025

Philippines deports Russian Zakhar Zverev, who is accused of phone fraud worth 3.6 million rubles

In November 2025, a Russian citizen who was on the international wanted list through Interpol on suspicion of fraud was deported from the Republic of the Philippines and transferred to Russian law enforcement agencies at the airport in Manila. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, the total amount of damage caused by the actions of a group of attackers organized by him exceeded 3.6 million rubles. Read more here.

A large-scale operation to eliminate fraudulent call centers took place in Cambodia. 3.5 thousand people were arrested, among them - Russians

In mid-October 2025, Cambodian authorities arrested more than 3,400 people suspected of involvement in internet fraud. The detainees include citizens of about 20 countries, including Russians. Read more here.

25 Russians are in Myanmar's fraudulent call centers - traffickers took them out of Thailand

On the territory of Myanmar, from 20 to 25 Russian citizens who were taken out by traffickers from Thailand can be in fraudulent call centers. It is difficult to establish the exact number, since Russians enter the territory of the republic illegally. Russian Ambassador to Myanmar Iskander Azizov noted that Russian citizens are being transported by traffickers with little hunting across the May River, along which the Thai-Myanmar border passes. This was reported by TASS on October 11, 2025. Read more here.

The emergence of a new telephone fraud scheme: Russians are frightened by microloans that they did not take

A new telephone fraud scheme has appeared in Russia, in which attackers send access codes from personal accounts on microloan platform sites and submit themselves to supervisory officials, notifying potential victims of alleged applications for microloans that citizens did not submit. This became known on August 11, 2025.

According to RIA Novosti, fraudsters use intimidation tactics and offer assistance in withdrawing non-existent applications, demanding that they provide access to the Public services portal and personal data of users. The scheme is aimed at obtaining confidential information and access to financial data of citizens through creating a false sense of threat and the need for urgent action.

New telephone fraud scheme: Russians are frightened by microloans that they did not take

The attackers have developed a multi-stage deception system that begins with mass sending SMS messages with access codes to personal accounts of various online lending platforms. Recipients of such messages become targets for subsequent phone calls from scammers.

There are official sources of information to check the availability of credit obligations and microloans. In Russia, data on credit transactions are recorded in the credit history, access to which is provided through the State Public services portal, the National Bureau of Credit Histories (NBCH), as well as through mobile applications and personal accounts of banks. Through the Public services, an electronic report on credit history is available for free receipt once a year, the NBCH provides a similar opportunity twice a year.

Information on debts transferred to court proceedings is contained in the database of the Federal Bailiff Service (FSSP). The search is carried out by entering personal data on the official website of the department.

If it is necessary to check microloans, make sure that there is a microfinance organization in the register of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. The absence of MFIs in this list indicates the illegal nature of its activities, which allows challenging the relevant debt obligations.^[1]

"Sber": Dnepropetrovsk became the capital of fraudsters, 400 call centers were deployed there

From 350 to 400 fraudulent, call centers focused on criminal activities against citizens Russia operate on the territory of Dnepropetrovsk. This was announced on June 26, 2025 by the deputy chairman of the board. Sberbank Stanislav Kuznetsov

The top manager of the largest Russian bank emphasized the scale of fraudulent activities in the Ukrainian city. Dnepropetrovsk, which the Ukrainian authorities renamed the Dnieper, concentrated a significant part of the criminal structures.

According to Sberbank, 400 fraudulent call centers are concentrated in Dnepropetrovsk

Kuznetsov noted that the fraudsters are supported by the Ukrainian authorities. They provide criminal groups with premises and various services for organizing illegal activities.

The geographical location of the Dnipropetrovsk region plays an important role in the choice of this region by fraudsters. The local population speaks Russian with almost no emphasis, which is critical for the successful deception of Russian citizens.

Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank compared the situation with the western regions of Ukraine. Residents of the western regions speak Russian with a noticeable accent, which immediately betrays their origin and becomes a "trigger" for potential victims.

The effectiveness of fraudulent call centers remains high, despite some reduction in their total number. The banking analyst attributed the phenomenon to market competition among criminal gangs.

Less professional organizations are gradually disappearing from the market or merging with larger structures. The consolidation process has led to an increase in the overall level of organization of fraudulent activities.

The technological equipment of call centers has reached a high level. Criminal gangs use modern infrastructure and specialized management systems to coordinate their actions.

Fraudsters purchase CRM systems and other technological solutions on centralized services. These platforms are located in third countries, including European ones. states

The damage to Russians from the actions of telephone fraudsters reaches ₽1 billion per day. This assessment of the scale of losses was announced in March 2025 by Igor Ashmanov, a member of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, an expert in the field of artificial intelligence.^[2]

Sber: 400 fraudulent call centers with technical support from Germany and Holland operate in Ukraine

More than 400 fraudulent call centers operate in Ukraine, and their main goal is Russia. This was announced on May 22, 2025 by the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank Stanislav Kuznetsov.

According to him, Ukrainian call centers, whose employees make fraudulent calls, are located in various cities Kiev-,, To Odessa Dnieper and others. At the same time, they receive technical support from and. Germany Netherlands

Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank Stanislav Kuznetsov

For Ukrainian youth, telephone fraud today is a fairly respected subculture. Being a criminal is not a shame for them, but cool, "says Kuznetsov.

Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank called cyber fraud a new pandemic. Moreover, artificial intelligence is becoming a key tool for cybercriminals. Neural networks allow you to automate phishing campaigns, create deepfakes and clone voices. AI technology can become a tool for political sabotage. By introducing AI, attackers will be able to overcome language and other barriers, which will expand the geography of telephone fraud and financial attacks.

Artificial intelligence helps to create new viruses, phishing sites and deepfakes, find vulnerabilities. DDoS attacks, ransomware viruses, Trojans - all these threats are amplified by artificial intelligence. In 2026, 85% of attacks will be carried out using it, "Kuznetsov emphasizes.

He notes that the most frequently attacked organizations in the CIS countries are government agencies, financial institutions and enterprises of the transport and logistics industry. This is due to the accelerated digitalization of the relevant areas, as well as the desire for enrichment and political motives. To strengthen security, according to Kuznetsov, it is necessary to develop AI-based protective equipment. In particular, Sber itself uses more than 100 AI models in its anti-fraud mechanisms.^[3]

FSB: 120-150 fraudulent call centers operate on the territory of Ukraine

On May 7, 2025 Federal Security Service Russia , it announced its functioning in the territory Ukraine from 120 to 150 fraudulent, call centers calling Russian citizens. These centers use for their activities, including the information infrastructure of some countries, the European Union FSB said.

According to the service, the mechanisms of fraudulent activities are constantly being improved. The organizers of criminal schemes exclude personal communication with performers or use them "in the dark." Various means of anonymization are actively used to hide their activities, including the substitution of phone numbers and the transmission of voice and text information through messengers WhatsApp and. Telegram

According to the FSB, 150 fraudulent call centers operate on the territory of Ukraine

Criminals use a large number of fake electronic payment details, which complicates the tracking of financial flows. Modern technologies of neurolinguistic programming and artificial intelligence for generating audio files and "deepfakes" also appeared in the arsenal of fraudsters. With their help, images of officials and various heraldic signs of law enforcement and credit and financial structures are created, which increases the confidence of potential victims.

To ensure the uninterrupted functioning of their operations, the organizers attract accomplices in Russia through ads on specialized Russian-language Internet resources. Payment for the services of such accomplices is carried out daily using cryptocurrency, which ensures the anonymity of transactions.

Recruited collaborators follow clear instructions for selecting and renting apartments. They choose housing on the upper floors of multi-storey buildings, on the first floors of which organizations and companies are located, offering various services to the population through automated telephone exchanges. This arrangement helps to mask the activities of call centers. Rentals are usually issued for a short period - up to two weeks, which makes it difficult to track criminal activity.^[4]

Up to 7 million fraudulent calls are made daily in Russia - Sberbank

Every day Russia , from 6 to 7 million fraudulent phone calls are recorded, and their number has remained at this level for several months. This was stated by the deputy chairman of the board Sberbank Stanislav Kuznetsov in April 2025 during a speech in. Federation Council

According to Interfax, in March 2024, a record figure was reached - more than 20 million fraudulent calls per day, which became the highest figure in the world. Despite the measures taken, the situation with telephone fraud remains difficult, and the process of limiting the number of such calls is very slow.

Sberbank: Up to 7 million fraudulent calls are made daily in Russia

The Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank noted that it was possible to solve the problem associated with the substitution of telephone numbers. However, the use of other deception technologies is ahead of regulatory measures to limit them. According to Sberbank estimates, the total damage to Russian citizens from cyber fraud in 2024 amounted to ₽295 billion.

Experts attribute the rise in fraudulent calls to the ever-increasing automation of the deception process. The author of the Telegram channel abloud62 Aleksei Boyko points out that a significant part of society was completely unprepared for telephone fraud. As a result, many deceived people actually sponsored criminals en masse, making their activities an attractive and profitable activity in the eyes of a certain category of citizens.

This situation stimulated the complication of both infrastructure and psychological components in the preparation of fraudsters, which ultimately increased their activity and effectiveness. Fraudsters are actively mastering new technologies and deception schemes that allow them to bypass existing protection and blocking systems.

The problem of telephone fraud remains relevant for all Russian banks and financial organizations. Banks invest heavily in information security systems and conduct regular information campaigns aimed at raising customer awareness of possible deception schemes.^[5]

2024

MTS saved 817.5 million rubles of users from fraudsters thanks to antifrod

Over the year, MTS revealed more than 3 million cases of fraud, allowing to save 817.5 million rubles of users. The company announced this as part of its sustainability reporting for 2024, which TAdviser got acquainted with. Read more here.

The spread of a virus that intercepts users' calls to the bank

On November 1, 2024, it became known that cybersecurity experts revealed the active distribution in Russia of the new malicious FakeCall application, which intercepts user calls to banks and transfers them to scammers. The program disguises itself as a standard call application and simulates the interfaces of more than 20 financial institutions. Read more here

Telephone scammers in Russia make 20 million calls every day

In October 2024, it became known about the unprecedented scale of telephone fraud in Russia. According to the country's largest bank, attackers make up to 20 million calls every day to deceive citizens and steal their funds.

According to RT, citing information from Sberbank, about 400 call centers operating from the territory of Ukraine are involved in extortion schemes. Specialists of these centers own psychological techniques and professionally deceive their victims for large sums.

Daily calls by phone scammers reach 20m

According to statistics from the Central Bank of Russia, in the first half of 2024, fraudsters managed to steal ₽8,9 billion from Russians. For the entire 2023, this amount amounted to ₽15,8 billion. In total, about 1.2 million operations were registered in 2023 without the consent of customers.

Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev at a meeting dedicated to countering IT crime said that 500 thousand people became victims of fraudsters, of which every fourth is a pensioner.

Fraudulent schemes are constantly getting more complicated. Criminals often act as part of a group and process the victim in several stages. Key techniques include intimidation and unauthorized access to a personal account. Attackers are increasingly presented by law enforcement officers and threaten problems with the law.

Fraudsters need help on the ground to implement their schemes. They recruit couriers and IT specialists through instant messengers. Couriers are used to receive cash from victims, and IT specialists provide technical support, in particular, the receipt or generation of Russian mobile numbers.

On September 11, 2024, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia conducted a major operation, during which 26 members of an international fraudulent group were detained in 13 regions of the country. About 40 units of specialized network equipment were seized from the criminals and more than 8 thousand numbers used for fraudulent schemes were identified.^[6]

6.5 thousand victims and millions of dollars in losses: How an Indian created one of the world's largest fraudulent call centers

On July 31, 2024, the US Department of Justice announced that a court in the Southern District of New York sentenced Indian citizen Vinoth Ponmaran, the creator of one of the world's largest fraudulent call centers, to seven years in prison. Its victims were more than 6,500 people, including the elderly. The damage is estimated at millions of dollars. Read more here

The number of calls of telephone fraudsters to Russia decreased 5 times after a series of attacks on Ukrainian hydroelectric power plants and thermal power plants

In July 2024, it became known that the number of calls from telephone fraudsters to Russia significantly decreased five times after strikes on Ukrainian hydroelectric power plants and thermal power plants, law enforcement officials said.

According to the Telegram channel Mash, this decline became noticeable almost immediately after the power outage in such large cities as the Dnieper. The decrease in the activity of fraudsters is associated with a power outage in significant settlements of Ukraine, where there are traditionally numerous call centers of intruders.

The number of calls from telephone fraudsters to Russia has significantly decreased fivefold after strikes on Ukrainian hydroelectric power plants and thermal power plants

As a result of attacks on energy facilities, such as power plants, call centers were deprived of the opportunity to conduct long-term telephone conversations and use number substitution technologies to deceive people.

Evgenia Lazareva, head of the Popular Front project For the Rights of Borrowers and coordinator of the Moshelovka platform, confirmed a significant reduction in the number of fraudulent calls from the end of September 2023 to July 2024. Lazareva stressed that complaints about telephone spam remain at the same level, but the number of calls from scammers has significantly decreased over this period of time. Evgenia Lazareva explains this trend by the fact that strikes on energy facilities in Ukraine led to the impossibility of operating call centers without electricity and the Internet. In the absence of these resources, attackers cannot effectively conduct the long conversations necessary to successfully carry out fraudulent actions.

In addition, it is noted that the number of complaints about fraudulent calls has decreased not only in large cities, but also in small settlements of Russia. This indicates the large-scale impact of attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities on the activities of fraudsters, making their operations difficult everywhere.

Ministry of Internal Affairs: Almost all IT crimes in the Russian Federation are committed from call centers of Ukraine

More than 90% of IT crimes in Russia are committed from call centers located in Ukraine. This was announced on June 27, 2024 by the director of the legal department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Alexander Avdeiko.

Alexander Avdeiko noted that technologies provided by NATO countries are used to commit crimes. He stressed that this is actually part of the information and sabotage struggle. Avdeiko also said that as part of the fight against cybercrime in 40 regions of Russia, more than 1000 SIM banks, 11 server stations and over 250 thousand were seized. SIM cards.

Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia: 90% of IT crimes in the Russian Federation are committed from call centers of Ukraine

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the damage from IT crimes in 2023 amounted to 156.5 billion rubles. In recent years, the number of such crimes has increased significantly, and their share in the total number of crimes has increased to 34.8%. Avdeiko added at the end of June 2024 that remote theft and fraud account for more than 70% of all IT crimes.

Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said that the total damage from IT crimes for 2023-2024 exceeded 210 billion rubles. He noted that since 2020, the number of crimes using information technology has increased by a third. In 2023, about 500 thousand people suffered from IT fraud, of which a quarter were pensioners.

Avdeiko also noted that previously a significant part of IT crimes were committed from places of imprisonment. However, thanks to legislative measures and the efforts of the FSIN, this problem was significantly reduced.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, there is an increase in the number of cases of illegal access to computer information. If in 2020 their share among all IT crimes did not exceed 1%, by 2024 this is already every eighth crime. The representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Irina Volk said that the department is actively improving measures to counter cybercrime, and the staff of special units to combat such crimes has increased fivefold since 2020.^[7]

Telephone scammers in Russia make from 10 million calls daily

Telephone scammers in Russia make from 10 to 15 million calls daily. Igor Ashmanov, a member of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC), spoke about this in April 2024.

According to him, personal data is "the starting capital of a fraudster or recruiter," so their protection is a matter of national security. Igor Ashmanov also cited data according to which telephone fraud accounts for about 15-20% of all voice calls.

Telephone scammers in Russia make from 10 to 15 million calls daily

According to a survey by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM), which were released in February 2024, 67% of Russians have faced telephone fraud over the past 6-12 months. To a lesser extent, SMS fraud is widespread: one in six (17%) faced similar attempts at deception.

In April 2024, the legal service "Unified Protection Center" announced that since the beginning of the year, telephone scammers have stolen more than 600 million rubles from Russians. According to the study, in the Russian Federation since 2015, the number of victims of fraudulent schemes has increased by 72%. The most common fraudulent methods were financial pyramids, false requests for help to relatives and promises to protect funds.

According to the legal service, in 2024 there were new schemes of deception related to the conviction of treason and criminal cases. Fraudsters use various methods to deceive citizens and cause them a sense of fear. If in 2023 the main schemes were financial pyramids, assistance to relatives and protection of money, then in 2024 the priority was treason, criminal cases and protection of money.

Fraudsters call the victims, posing as FSB officers, and accuse them of sending money to Ukraine from their accounts. If the victim denies these allegations, the scammers begin to call her back, posing as fictional generals.^[8]

"Sberbank": Russians receive up to 15 million fraudulent calls every day

Every day, Russians receive up to 15 million fraudulent phone calls. The deputy chairman Sberbank Stanislav Kuznetsov cited such data at one of the forums in mid-February Yekaterinburg 2024.

According to expert estimates, up to 8 million phone calls are made per day to Russian citizens, but taking into account instant messengers, this figure has greatly increased. We admit that up to 15 million call attempts occur daily, including messenger channels, - said Kuznetsov.

Every day, Russians receive up to 15 million fraudulent phone calls

According to him, the main channels of cyber fraudsters are virtual PBXs, instant messengers and SIM boxes (devices that are used to store a large number of SIM cards).

If in the traditional areas of telephony we managed to do a lot and manage these risks, then new (channels) appeared. Here we were not really ready... And we have not learned today to record the statistics of these areas. This is a new challenge, we manage to do something already, configure our systems, but much has not yet been possible, - said the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank.

In mid-February 2024, Stanislav Kuznetsov also spoke about the appearance in Russia of a new scheme of embezzlement of money with the alleged "abduction" of a person.

Just a few days ago, we recorded an incident when a person was already deceived, but got involved in a sophisticated scheme that we call "kidnapping." The victim is told to buy a ticket, go to another city, settle in a hotel, do not take the phone, "he said (quote from TASS).

After a person allegedly disappears, fraudsters call the victim's relatives and demand a ransom. Kuznetsov noted that Sberbank prevented these scenarios of theft of money and transfers in time.^[9]

2023

The Central Bank cited a list of phrases of telephone scammers, after which you need to hang up

On December 29, 2023, the Bank of Russia cited a list of phrases of telephone fraudsters, after which, according to the regulator, it is necessary to hang up. The list was published on the official Telegram channel of the Central Bank, and it looks like this:

• "A loan application has been made." The Central Bank recommends putting the phone down if the loan application has not been sent;
• "Employee of the Central Bank." Employees of the Central Bank do not contact individuals to perform banking operations;
• "Special and Secure Account." Fraudsters offer to transfer funds to a certain "special account" for safety, but such do not exist, indicate in the Central Bank;
• "Investigative actions are underway, help detain fraudsters and do not disclose information." Law enforcement officers do not carry out procedural actions by phone and do not offer to participate in the detention of fraudsters;
• "Your money is trying to steal, a suspicious operation has been recorded." Banks, as noted by the Central Bank, can suspend such operations without the participation of the client;
• "The SIM card is about to expire." The SIM card of the mobile operator, the Central Bank noted, has no expiration date;
• "Dictate the code from the SMS message." The code is an analogue of a handwritten signature, it cannot be sent or reported;
• "You are concerned about a financial security specialist, a bank security officer." In this case, the fraudster will be interested in the card data or the code from SMS.

The Bank of Russia warns that if at least one of the above phrases sounded in the conversation, the user should immediately end the conversation, then call the official number of the organization or the hotline on his own.

The Central Bank adds that criminals sometimes impersonate employees of departments and "send fake certificates through instant messengers." The regulator stressed that fraudsters know well how to deceive a person by causing the necessary emotions from him.^[10]

The ratio of women and men caught on the tricks of telephone scammers turned out to be approximately the same - 50.4% against 49.6%

VTB has compiled a portrait of customers who fell for the tricks of scammers. In 2023, the ratio of women to men turned out to be approximately the same - 50.4% against 49.6%, in 2022 the share of women was 52%. The average age of the "victim" ranged from 35 to 44 years. This was announced on October 20, 2023 by representatives of VTB.

According to a VTB study, women are slightly more likely to be attacked by fraudsters - in 50.4% of cases. The largest number of attacks are on bank customers aged 35 to 44 years (25.4%). The share of clients from 45 to 54 years old decreased by 4 percentage points. and began to occupy about 21%, from 55 to 64 years old - 17%, from 25 to 34 years old and people of the older generation (from 65 years old) - 14% each. Young people began to fall for the tricks of fraudsters more - the share of clients under the age of 25 increased from 4 to 8%.

Most of the "victims" live in Moscow (20.4%), the Moscow region (8.5%) and St. Petersburg (6.6%). Fraudulent activity is also high in the Novosibirsk (3.9%) and Samara regions (3.5%), Krasnodar Territory (3.2%), Sverdlovsk Region (3.2%). The North Caucasus has lost its leadership in the minimum number of attackers' activity. This year, less than 1% of fraudulent cases occur in the Orenburg region, the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Omsk, Vologda, Murmansk regions, Primorsky Territory, and the Republic of Buryatia.

The largest share of affected customers, calculated from the VTB Online audience in the region, falls on the Novosibirsk, Voronezh, Samara regions and Khabarovsk Territory. However, this figure does not exceed 0.3%.

Fraudulent attacks can be directed against Russians of any gender, age, social status and place of residence. However, first of all, attackers are attracted to middle-aged people, since they work hard and are financially stable. The rate of attacks on young people under the age of 25 also doubled. The most common deceptions based on social engineering, about one in three cases falls on loan processing. Defeat fraudsters and save your money will help, first of all vigilance and financial literacy. The client can become a victim of intruders only if he himself informs them of his personal data. Therefore, carefully read the texts of SMS notifications from the bank. Customers' money is kept safe only in the account that the client himself physically opened in the servicing bank. noted Nikita Chugunov, Senior Vice President of VTB, Head of the Digital Business Department

VTB specialists calculated that since the beginning of 2023, the bank has received 5.3 million messages about calls from fraudsters, which is 20% less than in the same period in 2022. The bank managed to save more than 9.5 billion rubles in accounts. Most of the calls are made by scammers from a mobile phone - 74%, messengers account for 20%, from city numbers - 4%.

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation explained why fraudsters call and remain silent in the phone

At the end of June 2023, the Central Bank of Russia explained why fraudsters call and remain silent. According to Dmitry Ibragimov, deputy head of the Security Department of the Central Bank of the Central Bank for the Central Federal District, a "silent" call is first made to check whether the number is valid.

Scammers also need to find out if the user will answer an unfamiliar incoming number or ignore it. If initially the user did not answer the incoming call, and then called back after some time, then this will be a positive subscriber for the scammers. As in the case if the user of the SIM card answers immediately. It's like a primary filter before the next attack, such as a cold call from bank security.

In addition, attackers can make calls, listen to a voice and update their database. For example, to map a subscriber's voice to attributes such as the caller's gender and age in the database. Suppose that the fraudsters already have the data of the owner of the SIM card and they refer the owner to Petrov Evgeny Petrovich, born in 1980. After the call and the subscriber's answer to it, the voice will be automatically recorded on the PC, and then updated from the point of view: whether the man or woman answered, the estimated age is recognized by the timbre of the voice. Somehow, it is not necessary to act on such "silent" calls on purpose, because such a call itself does not carry any danger, the representative of the Central Bank specified.

The caller does not need to worry about whether he answered the call correctly or said something superfluous, for example, "Yes, I listen!" There is a myth that fraudsters can record a "Yes" answer and use it to confirm a serious financial transaction, obtain a loan or transfer money. In reality, this is not the case, notes Dmitry Ibragimov.

According to him, it is impossible to remotely confirm such operations in one word "Yes." Banks will not take on potential risks associated with insufficient identification of the client, that is, until they fully make sure that it is the client who transfers the order to dispose of their own funds, transactions are excluded. In addition, the operator of any bank in any case will distinguish the recorded voice from the natural one, although in June 2023 IT technologies are constantly developing and improving, Ibragimov assured.^[11]

Sberbank recorded an increase in the number of telephone fraud attempts against Russians to 8.6 million per day

The number of attempts at telephone fraud against Russians by mid-June 2023 reached 8.6 million per day against 5 million a year earlier. This was announced on June 14, 2023 by the deputy chairman of the board. Sberbank Stanislav Kuznetsov

The main threat is telephone fraud, the share of which in the total volume of cyber fraud is 90%. And the number of attempts at telephone fraud is growing, "he said in a conversation with RIA Novosti.

According to Kuznetsov, among the fraudulent schemes that cybercriminals use against bank customers, the scheme with transfer or contribution to a "safe account" still dominates: over 77% of the total volume of fraud attempts. As part of this scheme, most often criminals appear to be employees of the "security service" and talk about a certain "change in financial number," intimidate by issuing a loan in the name of the client or an attempt to withdraw money from the account.

The attackers do not come up with fundamentally new ideas, but only introduce new varieties of the mentioned scheme, the representative of Sberbank noted.

To convince victims of the veracity of their words, fraudsters are increasingly sending them fake documents through instant messengers. Recently, for example, swindlers have been using fake "identity certificates of a qualified bank employee," said Stanislav Kuznetsov.

Also, according to him, the criminals learned to call entire families at once. If the victim does not succumb to persuasion, fraudsters contact her loved ones, convincing them to influence the "stubborn" relative. At the same time, the swindlers "are represented by bank or police officers, report on a possible theft of funds and ask to take action," Kuznetsov explained.

This "approach" can lead to losses of more significant amounts, since there is a possibility that other family members will also fall under the influence, - warned the top manager of Sberbank.[12]

A Russian citizen did not succumb to the tricks of fraudsters and they signed him up as a volunteer to participate in a special operation in Ukraine

Ukrainian fraudsters could not rob a resident of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk with money and, in retaliation, registered him as a volunteer to participate in a special operation in Ukraine. According to local police, an unknown person called the 50-year-old man and introduced himself as an employee of the State Public services portal. He said that the man's personal account was hacked. During the conversation, the fraudster asked where he kept his money, but he could not lure this information out. Sakhalinets issued only data from his personal account at the Public services. Three days later, the man went to the portal application and found that he had been volunteered for the SVO.

Taxi driver Zhanishbek returned the money to a pensioner who was tried to rob telephone scammers

24-year-old Zhanishbek fulfilled the order on the afternoon of April 21, 2023. The taxi driver arrived on Belomorskaya Street to pick up the parcel from an 84-year-old pensioner. The woman handed him a bag, and Zhanishbek, just in case, clarified whether there was money there. The pensioner shook her head, so the taxi driver with a calm soul went to the recipient.

On the way, they called him. The caller was clearly nervous and asked Zhanishbek to deliver the bag to the spot as soon as possible. The taxi driver decided to check the parcel and was right: there were 500 thousand rubles inside. The driver immediately realized that the pensioner fell for the trick of scammers. He pulled out the money, handed them an empty bag and returned to Belomorskaya to give the amount to his grandmother.

However, no one opened the door to him. Then the taxi driver decided to call the police. He was taken to the department, where the guy voluntarily gave half a million belonging to the pensioner. The money was handed over to the hostess, and they also had a conversation with their grandmother that they should not believe strangers who call on the phone, writes Baza.

95% of fraudulent calls to Russians are made from the territory of Ukraine

95% of fraudulent calls to Russians are made from the territory of Ukraine - 800-900 call centers are located there. Such data in February 2023 was shared by the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank Stanislav Kuznetsov. According to him, the center of telephone fraud remains the city of Dnipro - earlier about 1100 call centers worked there, now - about 150.

Scripts for telephone scammers are not written in Ukraine, but by Western countries: for this they use any information reason, said Vladimir Komlev, general director of the National Payment Card System.

Ukrainian fraudster was able to persuade a resident of the Moscow region to transfer him almost one and a half million, and then set fire to the branch of Sberbank

On the morning of February 7, 2023, 48-year-old Alexei, a resident of the village of Porechye near Ruza, received a call from a "bank security officer," writes Baza. He convinced the man that his accumulations were at risk and needed to be protected. To do this, you need to take a loan of 1.4 million rubles, after which you sent the amount to the fraudster.

However, the offender did not lag behind. "Bank employee" was able to explain to Alexei that in order to identify fraudsters, he needs to set fire to the office of Sberbank. The fraudster sent instructions on how to mix the "Molotov cocktail" and a few hours later Alexey was already at the branch in Ruza. After making sure there were no people in the bank, he opened the door and threw the bottle into the corner. It is believed that telephone fraudsters have been covered by the Ukrainian SBU for years.

2022

Subscribers around the world lost $53 billion due to telephone scammers using digital technologies

In 2022, mobile subscribers globally lost approximately $53 billion due to telephone fraud and unwanted calls. This is stated in a report released on March 20, 2023 by Juniper Research.

Attackers use various techniques to deceive cellular users. This is, in particular, unauthorized call forwarding or forgery of the caller ID. The ultimate goal of criminals is to gain financial advantage. Experts say that despite the ongoing development of robocall prevention systems, phone fraud losses are on the rise. Attackers are constantly improving their methods and tactics using affordable digital technologies. By 2027, global losses in this sector could reach $70 billion.

It is noted that more than 50% of the total damage associated with fraudulent robocalls is in North America. According to the annual report of the Robokiller service, in 2022, Americans received 225.69 billion text messages generated by robotic systems. This is 157% more compared to 2021, when the number of fraudulent messages was estimated at 87.85 billion. At the same time, the number of robotic calls from intruders rose on an annualized basis by 8% - from 72.24 billion to 78.24 billion.

According to a study by Robokiller, in 2022, fraudulent messages related to the delivery of certain orders were most often sent - more than 12 billion messages. In second place were robotexts concerning various financial services: they accounted for almost 4 billion shipments. The top three messages on the COVID-19 pandemic are closed - approximately 2.87 billion shipments at the end of 2022.^[13]

In the US, scammers stole $11 million with deepfakes imitating someone else's voice

In 2022, fraudsters, using artificial intelligence models to accurately imitate (deepfake) human voices, stole about $11 million from their victims in the United States alone. Such data are contained in the report of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), published on February 23, 2023.

Modern AI tools are able to mimic a person's voice, including emotional tone, based on the analysis of several voice phrases. And, for example, the Microsoft VALL-E system based on a neural network requires a sample of only three seconds. Such tools are actively used by attackers, misleading gullible users. Most often, fraudsters present themselves as relatives of the victim, demanding to transfer money under one pretext or another. For example, in 2022, one married couple in the United States sent $15,000 through a bitcoin terminal to a criminal, believing that they were talking to their son. A generated AI voice told them he needed money to pay off legal fees after he was involved in a car accident that killed a US diplomat.

In general, as noted, in 2022, more than 5,100 people became victims of such schemes in the United States. Experts say that such attacks can be carried out from anywhere in the world, and therefore it is extremely difficult to track down criminals. Often there is also uncertainty about which agencies have jurisdiction to investigate cases where scammers operate from different countries.

The FTC report says that in general, victims of attackers lost almost $8.8 billion in 2022 as a result of attacks of various types. This is 30% more compared to 2021. At the same time, the greatest damage was caused by investment fraudulent schemes: the damage from them amounted to more than $3.8 billion. In second place are fraud with impostors, the losses from which in 2022 reached $2.6 billion against $2.4 billion a year earlier.^[14]

Hackers began to massively attack telecom operators around the world to take possession of someone else's phone number

On December 2, 2022, IT specialists CrowdStrike announced the discovery of a new cybercriminal scheme: attackers attack telecommunications companies and organizations in the field (outsourcing business processes BPO) in order to take possession of someone else's phone number. More. here

Telecom operators will be forced to report on replacement numbers to the Ministry of Ministry of Digital Development

As it became known in early December 2022, the Ministry of Digital Development will have the right to ask operators for data on a completed call based on citizens' appeals through the Public services. The corresponding amendments to the law "On Communications," prepared by a group of members of the Federal Assembly headed by Artem Sheikin, a member of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building. Read more here.

In Krasnoyarsk, telephone scammers accidentally called the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs

In Krasnoyarsk, telephone swindlers accidentally called the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA). After that, a courier was detained, who took money from the victims of telephone fraud. This was reported in the department on September 15, 2022. Read more here.

Russia is creating a unified system for checking subscriber data to combat telephone fraudsters

At the end of August 2022, new details about the unified information system for checking information about subscribers (UIS PSA) became known. The corresponding bill is in terms of priorities for consideration by the State Duma in the autumn session, Izvestia was told in the financial market committee of the lower house. Read more here.

Online banking malware intercepts calls to support

Researchers in the field cyber security from the company "" Kaspersky Lab talked bank trojan about called Fakecalls. In addition to the usual spy functions, he has an interesting ability - to "talk" to the victim, imitating communication with an employee. bank This became known on April 12, 2022. More. here

A large call center of fraudsters in Berdyansk acted in agreement with the authorities of Ukraine

During a military special operation, the Russian military in April 2022 found a call center abandoned by Ukrainian fraudsters in Berdyansk, which had data from at least 20 million Russians. It acted in agreement with the Ukrainian authorities, while its activities were supported from, Netherlands, and Germany. USA Estonia

2021

9 out of 10 fraudulent calls to bank customers in Russia are made by robots

On November 22, 2021, it became known about a surge in telephone fraud using robotic assistants in Russia. This method accounts for 9 out of 10 calls from attackers, told Kommersant in a bank from the top 5 in the Russian Federation.

Another credit institution, one of the 20 largest in the country, confirmed an increase in the number of customer complaints about fraudulent calls using robotic assistants, specifying that such attacks account for almost half of such calls.

According to the manager of RTM Group, Yevgeny Tsarev, the attacks with automatic calling of the base began about six months ago in connection with the widespread introduction of bank voice assistants in banks, as well as informing the population about fraudulent calls on behalf of the "bank security service" or "Interior Ministry officer." Tsarev noted that six months ago the automatic call of the base was rare, the cases were isolated.

According to the expert, calls using a robot increase the coverage of victims. Robotic attacks have another plus - the population trusts such calls more.

According to the newspaper in Tinkoff Bank, the use of robots allows fraudsters to gain the trust of bank customers who seem to be with a bot from the bank's security service. VTB clarified to Kommersant that robocalls are easily organized, because autoinformers are increasingly included in the standard package of office telephony contracts.

According to the director of the, information security GPB Alexey Pleshkov if the victim believed, to the robot it is highly likely that she will believe the persuasion of the fraudster and in live dialogue. The use of bank number substitution technology in such attacks only strengthens trust.

According to Ilya Suloev, director of the Otkritie Bank DIB, from the point of view of protection measures, telecom operators and regulators could make a significant contribution to the fight.^[15]

The share of fraudulent calls in Russia from abroad reached 70%

By November 2021, about 70% of fraudsters' calls Russia come from abroad, while two years earlier this share was 40%. Such data were provided by the deputy chairman of the board. Sberbank Stanislav Kuznetsov

According to him, the main source of such calls is the Ukrainian city of the Dnieper, in which there are many Russian-speaking youth, and there are apparently not enough opportunities for honest earnings. Earlier, up to 1000 fraudulent call centers could work in the Dnieper, but over the past year their number has decreased to 150, Kuznetsov said in an interview with Izvestia.

Those who worked according to the most primitive scheme were eliminated: "Your card is blocked, dictate the CVV code." There are large centers operating according to more ingenious schemes of deception, - he said.

In early October 2021, Kuznetsov also designated Ukraine as the "capital" of telephone fraud. According to him, on average, Sberbank customers receive 3-7 thousand calls a day, sometimes their number reaches 10 thousand.

50% of citizens do not take the phone at all for various reasons and do not answer such calls, but with 1% of citizens [fraudsters] still manage to talk, - added Kuznetsov.

He noted that most often fraudsters are represented by law enforcement officers (Ministry of Internal Affairs, General Prosecutor's Office, etc.). They call a potential victim, say a bank employee is trying to steal their money and asking for help catching the gunman. To do this, you need to transfer money to a safer account right now. In addition, employees can receive money or property under the guise of conducting a special operation to catch criminals.

In addition, they are swindlers trying to convince a potential victim that they are not calling her from 900 because they are talking on a secure technical line.

А что цитируем-то?

Beeline subscriber accidentally found out that 1.7 thousand corporate numbers were registered to it

A TAdviser resident who faced Moscow Ekaterina Litvinova fraud when registering cell numbers for her turned to the editorial office. personal data According to the citizen, it follows that she saw in her personal account on (EPGU Unified Portal state and Municipal Services, "Goservugi") 1732 information messages about the provision of the service "Activation of Corporate Card SIM." Read more here. [1]

Deputy Chairman of Sberbank called Dnipro the capital of telephone fraud

The deputy Sberbank Stanislav Kuznetsov Ukrainian chairman of the board called the city of Dnipro the capital of telephone fraud, about 150 were organized there. call centers This became known on October 4, 2021.

According to Kuznetsov, in 2020 there were about 1,000 call centers of intruders in the Dnieper. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Central Bank record an increase in the number of calls from the beginning of 2021, but fraudsters "flowed" from Sberbank customers to other banks, he said.

"In 2021, the trend is a call from a police officer, from the prosecutor's office, from the Investigative Committee, and so on," said Stanislav Kuznetsov.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, for 9 months of 2021, the number of such cases increased by 15% compared to 2020, and according to the Bank of Russia - by 30%.

In Sberbank, according to him, since the beginning of the year, a reduction in the number of attacks on bank customers has been recorded by about half. According to Kuznetsov, telephone scammers "flowed" from Sberbank customers to customers of other credit institutions.

50% of citizens do not take the phone at all for various reasons and do not answer such calls, but fraudsters still manage to talk with 1% of citizens, "Kuznetsov added.

According to Sberbank estimates, telephone scammers steal 3.5-5 billion rubles from Russian bank accounts every month. ^[16].

Sberbank: Telephone scammers steal 3.5-5 billion rubles from Russian accounts every month

According to Sberbank, fraudsters steal more than 3.5-5 billion rubles from the accounts of Russians every month. Stanislav Kuznetsov, deputy chairman of the board of the largest credit institution in the Russian Federation, announced this in June 2021.

According to him, the average check for a successful fraudulent operation is about 8 thousand rubles. One fraudulent call center accounts for from 3 to 7 thousand calls per day, while in half of the cases swindlers do not call - 1% of calls work, Kuznetsov told RIA Novosti.

He clarified that fraudsters receive information about Russians through the shadow personal data market. He said that when studying the shadow market, the bank found 12 trading platforms for the sale of information from financial organizations, cellular operators and payment systems, nine of which can be used to purchase bank card data.

Most often, information from compromised databases of external services - delivery of goods, government agencies, online stores - is available, - said Kuznetsov.

The deputy chairman of the board of Sberbank said that by June 2021, fraudsters had become more "patient," as they could not convince people to transfer money for one call due to the increased level of cyber literacy of citizens and technical means of protection. In this regard, a new type of fraud has appeared. An attacker under the guise of a recruiter offers to employ a highly paid job, communicates with a client for several days, can arrange a video conference for an interview.

In May 2021, Kuznetsov said that telephone fraud can be defeated by the end of the year, if the necessary measures are taken at the level of telecom operators. According to him, this will reduce the number of fraudulent phone calls by about 70-80%.^[17]

2020

Theft of 150 billion rubles from Russians by phone and via the Internet

In 2020, scammers stole 150 billion rubles from Russians by phone and over the Internet. This is evidenced by the calculations of BrandMonitor, based on data from the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM).

As Kommersant writes with reference to a BrandMonitor study, the following fraud schemes were the most profitable for swindlers:

•  Scammers received 66 billion rubles, posing by phone as representatives of financial organizations and withdrawing money through ATMs;
• 46.5 billion rubles earned on fictitious medical services;
• 18.6 billion rubles were brought to the attackers by phishing sites and non-existent online stores. 

The average damage to citizens from telephone fraudsters in 2020 varies from 27 thousand to 50 thousand rubles, depending on the context of the call. In particular, the victim of swindlers, who appear to be employees of medical institutions, on average loses more than 50 thousand rubles, while calls allegedly on behalf of banks cost Russians 27 thousand rubles.

As the source of the publication noted, the amount of fraudsters' earnings can be called "cosmic," since they are twice the amount of net profit that  VTB (one of the largest banks in the country) plans to earn by the end of 2020 - 70-75 billion rubles.

It is noted that in 2020, banks and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation have repeatedly increased the blocking of fraudulent telephone numbers, or attempts to steal from the accounts and cards of Russians. Fraudsters intensified during the pandemic, when residents of the country stayed at home, often made purchases via the Internet, or turned to doctors for treatment, tests or examinations.

In 2020, two trends that strengthen each other met: the annual significant increase in fraud and the transition of the population to remote work, which increases the importance of communication tools and the loyalty of people to incoming unfamiliar calls, believes Alexei Malnev, head of the Jet CSIRT Incident Monitoring and Response Center for Jet Infosystems.

In the first 6 months of 2020, the Central Bank blocked about 10 thousand telephone numbers of intruders, the Kommersant newspaper writes. The indicator has grown 4 times compared to 2019. Experts expected another wave of fraud on the eve of the New Year, the newspaper notes.^[18]

Named the most popular regions among telephone scammers

On December 29, 2020, it became known that Moscow and the region topped the list of the most popular regions among telephone scammers. This conclusion follows from a study by BI.Zone (Secure Information Zone, Bison), a subsidiary of Sberbank, which Interfax got acquainted with.

In just a year, fraudsters made about 15 million calls, and Sberbank received more than 3.4 million complaints about them. For comparison: in 2019, only 2.5 million complaints were recorded.

The capital region accounts for 28.8% of all calls. Next come: St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region (8.7%), Krasnodar Territory (3.4%), Sverdlovsk Region (3.1%), Rostov Region (2.4%), Samara Region (2.3%). Among the goals of fraudsters are also residents of the Chelyabinsk, Nizhny Novgorod and Novosibirsk regions (2% each), Tatarstan and Bashkiria (1.9% each), as well as the Krasnoyarsk Territory (1.5%). The company's experts associate the popularity of Moscow and St. Petersburg among fraudsters with the population and its solvency in these cities.

The largest number of unwanted calls is in the daytime (14:00) and evening (from 16:00 to 20:00). The least calls are from 2pm to 3.10pm, when presumably "scammers leave for lunch."^[19]

Kaspersky Lab: the share of spam from unknown numbers was 63%

Kaspersky Lab on December 3, 2020 presented reltates for analyzing the most common telephone and online fraud schemes in 2020. According to statistics from Kaspersky Who Calls, in Russia in 2020, among all incoming from unknown numbers, the share of spam was 63%, and the share of calls with suspected fraud was 5.9%. Read more here.

The Ministry of Digital Development proposes to oblige telecom operators to block fraudsters' numbers

On November 16, 2020, it became known about the proposal of the Ministry of Digital Development to oblige operators to establish systems for countering fraud (fraud) using telephone numbers and establishing a source of traffic.

As Kommersant writes with reference to the corresponding bill, the Ministry of Ministry of Digital Development proposes to block numbers, from which spam calls or calls are made using replacement numbers. Such numbers, according to the text of the document, will be blocked after complaints from subscribers and preliminary verification of them.

By frode on communication networks, Ministry of Digital Development recommends understanding traffic in which a subscriber is called through a replacement number, having received unauthorized access to operator equipment or special equipment and software. This, in turn, leads to a violation of the security of the network and the rights of third parties, the newspaper notes. It is proposed to consider as telephone spam messages or calls whose purpose is to distribute ads without the consent of the subscriber.

Rostelecom""has already supported the measures proposed by the Ministry of Ministry of Digital Development, calling them effective. The company noted that the costs will be insignificant, since large telecom operators are already using such systems. "" VimpelCom confirmed that they also use similar systems. MTS They added that the bill requires "detailed study," and in "" MegaFon they reported that they were studying the proposals received.

The general director of the consulting company Orderkom Dmitry Galushko, in turn, in a conversation with Kommersant noted that the installation of additional equipment will lead to the costs of operators. According to him, the fight against fraud is the task of the state, which is carried out at the expense of taxpayers.

The publication says that in July-September 2020, the Central Bank transmitted information to operators about 9.6 thousand numbers identified on suspicion of committing fraud. Of these, only 66 are blocked.^[20]

Almost half of all fraudulent call centers are housed in prisons

Almost half of all fraudulent call centers are in prison. The total income of attackers reaches more than 75 million rubles a month. This became known on September 29, 2020.

It is not individual attackers who call customers, but employees of professional "contact centers." 40-50% of them are in prison. We record that fraudsters are in almost every third institution of the penitentiary service in, Russia- said the Newsdeputy chairman of the board in an interview with the newspaper "." Sberbank Stanislav Kuznetsov

According to Kuznetsov, one call center consisting of 50 "employees" can make about 20 thousand calls a week. A potential victim picks up the phone in half of the cases. 70% of people refuse to talk to scammers.

As for the fight against call centers in prisons, according to Kuznetsov, the State Duma in the first reading adopted a bill introducing a procedure for blocking cellular communications in prisons. It is assumed that the cellular operator will disconnect the communication at the request of the head of the territorial body of the Federal Penitentiary FSIN.

The deputy chairman of the bank's board also noted that in 2020 the number of requests from Sberbank customers regarding telephone fraud doubled compared to 2019. Bank employees recorded about 2.9 million customer complaints about attempts to^[21] of^[22].

In Moscow, up to 60% of telephone fraud is committed from the territory of Ukraine

The number of remote crimes (committed using the Internet and phones) that occurred in Moscow has increased by 120% since the beginning of this year. This was announced in August 2020 by the deputy head of the 6th department of the criminal investigation department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow, Sergei Klindukhov.

"For seven months of this year, more than 25 thousand crimes committed remotely have already been committed. The dynamics of the increase is 120% compared to last year, "he said, speaking at the Public Chamber of Moscow.

"From our unspoken statistics it follows that 50 − 60% of calls come from Ukraine, that is, the call center is located in Ukraine. We establish them promptly, but we cannot bring them to criminal responsibility, "he explained.

According to him, the most unprotected segments of the population who are subject to the influence of fraudsters are pensioners. "Our proposals are prevention: distribution of some videos at stops, in bank branches, distribution of leaflets, articles through the media. Just preventive measures, "concluded Klindukhov.

Telephone fraud accounts for more than 90% of all clashes with attackers "masked" bank workers

According to a Kaspersky Lab survey, on average, the amount of damage from the actions of fraudsters posing as employees of banking organizations is five thousand rubles. This was reported on August 11, 2020 in Raiffeisen Bank.

According to the survey, in the first half of 2020, more than half of Russians (58%) encountered attackers acting on behalf of banks at least once. In the overwhelming majority of cases (more than 90%) we are talking about telephone fraud, and calls are received mainly during working hours - from Monday to Thursday, from 11 to 18 hours.

Attackers are seriously preparing for such calls and are actively using social engineering methods. So, in 42% of cases, they completely called the correct name, surname and patronymic of the one to whom they called. The most common legends were the need to confirm the data (72%), the message about blocking the card (58%) and the loan offer (57%).

In almost half of the cases (46%), attackers tried to get a code from SMS or card data, and in every fifth case (21%), they convinced them to transfer the money allegedly to a secure account.

"The volume of telephone fraud continues to grow, but unfortunately, many people still do not know how to recognize intruders and lose money as a result of the simplest schemes. We remind you that a real employee of a financial organization will never object to the completion of the conversation, but the fraudster, on the contrary, will make every effort and resort to various psychological tricks so that the one to whom he calls does not hang up. Therefore, in any case, it is better to end the conversation and call back to the official number of the bank, "recalled Sergey Golovanov, a leading expert at Kaspersky Lab.

The growing interest of fraudsters in a scheme based on the confidence of citizens in well-known banking analysts on the market was recorded by Raiffeisen Bank experts in the first half of 2020. The names of Denis Poryvay and Stanislav Murashov enjoy the greatest attention from fraudsters. Swindlers call bank customers on their behalf, offering "investment ideas," schemes for their implementation and details for transferring funds to an account. Immediately after the transaction, the "analyst" disappears, respectively, customers lose money, and real analysts receive reputational damage.

"Banking analysts never initiate contact with individuals, do not offer them investment ideas, do not discuss the details of their implementation, do not ask for personal information, including financial information, and do not offer any financial transactions. For any call from such an "analyst," we recommend that you hang up and call the bank directly at the number indicated on the back of the card. It is also worth contacting the bank when receiving a letter of this content, "said Pavel Nagin, head of the monitoring and prevention of cyber attacks at Raiffeisen Bank information security department.

2019

Attackers prefer the phone to all other communication channels

The share of social engineering in the total number of embezzlement of funds from the accounts of individuals in Russia in 2019 increased by 10 percentage points, to 90%, according to a study by a subsidiary of Sberbank - BI.Zone (Safe Information Zone, Bison). This became known on June 19, 2020.

Attackers continue to exploit human credulity. In terms of theft, the share of social engineering in 2019 increased by 10 percentage points and now accounts for 90% of all types of fraud. At the same time, the share of malware decreased from 9% to 3%, "the study says.

Stanislav Kuznetsov, deputy chairman of the board of Sberbank, spoke about the share of social engineering in 90% of thefts from the accounts of individuals in July 2018.

The scale of the activity of attackers in this direction is impressive: the organizers of such criminal groups are recruiting entire call centers. They hire people full-time with the sole task of tricking bank clients into stealing money from them, Bi.zone experts point out.

They also note that attackers prefer the phone to all other communication channels: in 2019, the share of calls was 90%. The number of fraudulent SMS, according to the company, decreased in 2019 to 5% from 33% a year earlier.

Previously, the main tools for stealing money were fake bank cards and sms-banking. In 2019, the situation changed: fraud using mobile applications came first. Such operations were 50% of the total, the study said.

It showed that cyber theft using bank cards accounts for 30% of the total number of fraudulent transactions. At the same time, sms-banking has sharply lost popularity among cybercriminals, it now accounts for 12% of thefts^[23].

Prisoners in the Ryazan colony earn tens of millions of rubles on telephone fraud

On December 24, 2019, the 13th series of the documentary film "Chronicles of the Gulag of the 21st Century" was published on the Gulagu.net YouTube channel, from which it became known that prisoners in the Ryazan colony earn tens of millions of rubles from telephone fraud.

The founder of the Gulagu.net project and the author of the film, Vladimir Osechkin, sent a statement indicating signs of crimes in the correctional institution to the head, Investigative Committee of Russia Alexandra Bastrykina prosecutor general, Yury Chaika first deputy director FSB Russia Sergei Korolev and Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation. Alexander Konovalov

The authors of the investigation claim that an organized criminal community (OPS) was formed from among the criminals serving sentences, as well as current employees of the IK-3 and UFSIN in the Ryazan region. The video presents fragments of correspondence and telephone conversations of members of the OPS.

According to Vladimir Osechkin, members of the OPS managed many accounts and bank cards directly from the PKU IK-3 the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in the Ryazan Region from 2016 to 2019 through mobile banking using access to the Internet to and account management in several. banks

In his letter, Vladimir Osechkin points out the embezzlement of 20 million rubles of the Federal Penitentiary Service IK-3 the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in the Ryazan Region. In a conversation with MBH Media, the founder of the Gulagu.net project said that prisoners, with the approval of the administration, extorted more than 50 million rubles a year by phone. Men on the phone and the Internet rubbed themselves into the trust of wealthy women from Moscow and deceived them to transfer money to their accounts, which they then cashed. According to Osechkin, the colony employees provided prisoners with round-the-clock access to mobile communications, the Internet and drugs for bribes.^[24]

Beeline city numbers are the most popular among scammers

Bank scammers in 60% of cases call from city numbers. Beeline

2.5 million complaints about phone fraud in a year

Social engineering has supplanted all other types of cyber fraud in recent years. Sberbank In 2019 alone, 2.5 million complaints about telephone fraud were received - calls under the guise of the bank's security service. Compared to 2017, the growth was 15 times, and many cases are simply unknown, since customers did not report them to the bank. Fraudsters have already acquired personal consultants who analyze the methods of counter-response of banks. In 2019, Sberbank calculated the number of unique numbers from which attackers call - there were 170 thousand of them.

Central Bank: the number of fraudulent calls with the substitution of bank numbers is growing sharply

On September 27, 2019, it became known about the frequency of fraudulent calls in Russia with the substitution of the bank number. According to the Central Bank, in June-August alone, fraudsters managed to replace about 200 bank numbers.

According to Kommersant, in the summer of 2019, the Central Bank sent information to telecom operators about more than 2.5 thousand numbers from which calls to Russian customers were received. At the request of the financial regulator, operators in 218 cases blocked the number, in 59 - imposed restrictions on the use of financial services, and in 198 - found a substitution of the bank number. However, in more than two thousand cases, no measures were taken due to the lack of legal grounds.

The share of calls with bank number substitution by mid-summer reached 35% of the total number of fraudulent calls, said Ilya Suloev, deputy director of the Otkritie information security department |. Rosbank faced a wave of calls from scammers in early July. Alfa-Bank also recorded the substitution of the number.

A new surge in fraudulent calls was recorded in September 2019, Artem Sychev, First Deputy Head of the Information Security Department of the Bank of Russia, told the publication. According to him, legislative amendments will also be required to implement technical protection measures.

Many of the Central Bank's appeals received in the summer were "technically incorrect," a representative of VimpelCom explained to the publication. According to him, sometimes the lists provided for blocking numbers indicated those that banks use for outgoing calls to customers. Blocking such numbers would lead to the fact that banks could not get through to customers, the operator noted.

The statistics of the Central Bank reflect only a small part of the problem, Vlad Wolfson, commercial director of MegaFon, told the publication.^[25]

Notes