As explained by Ivan Pankovets, deputy head of the security department of the Murmansk branch of the North-Western State Directorate of the Bank of Russia, fraudsters began to use a new scheme for telephone fraud. Callers pretend to be service personnel of mobile operators. They inform the subscriber that his number will supposedly stop working soon, that it will be disconnected and it will be impossible to get it back. To avoid this, they suggest dialing a certain combination of mobile phone numbers.
However, in fact, this manipulation has nothing to do with saving the number – the subscriber with his own hands connects the forwarding of calls and text messages, including those with SMS codes from the bank, to the numbers of the offenders. This will allow fraudsters to gain access to remotely manage bank accounts and steal money. Thus, every operation, whether it is a confirmation of payment by card in an online store or authorization in a messenger, will go through them. As a result, you can lose money, accounts in messaging services or social networks. Also, a large loan can be issued in your name.
Sometimes fraudsters report that an application has been received to change a mobile operator, while keeping the number, or that a person needs to re-register a contract for the provision of communication services, change the tariff plan to a more profitable one. All this is nothing but interpretations of the same legend, notes Ivan Pankovets. The goal of fake operators is simple – to find out the login details of the subscriber’s personal account and connect a call forwarding to their number or convince the person to do it on his own.
When you receive such calls, it is best to hang up. Do not tell anyone usernames and passwords, SMS codes to confirm the operation. Under no circumstances should this information be given to strangers.
If you have questions or doubts, call the support department of the mobile operator yourself at the phone number listed on its official website. In this case, you cannot call back the number you called from. Then you will run into the same scammers.
You can learn about the most common schemes used by cyber fraudsters to steal money on the website of the Bank of Russia in the section “Countering Fraudulent Practices”. It details the new scenarios intruders, as well as recommendations for countering them.
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