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How not to become a victim of scammers: the main rules of digital security
17.04.2023
Every day, fraudulent schemes are becoming more sophisticated, so even the most attentive person can make a mistake and lose money. If you suddenly find yourself in such a situation, do not blame yourself. In Minsk alone, from March 2022 to April 2023, 800 criminal cases were initiated regarding fraud involving relatives якобы involved in accidents.
In this material, we will analyze the most popular fraudulent tricks and give advice on how not to become a victim of scammers. Here's how attackers may try to lure your money and personal information:
1) In messengers. Scammers may pretend to be your relatives in trouble, as well as bank employees or law enforcement officers. Most likely, they will try to force you to transfer money to them or take out a loan for a huge amount of money. Do not hesitate to hang up or block the interlocutor in the messenger in such cases. After that, you can call the relative the scammer impersonated or your bank to make sure it was indeed a trick.
Often, attackers get your phone number from your own social networks. Discount cards are also dangerous: databases with the information you enter when filling out forms are often hacked.
2) On social networks. In this case, scammers want to hijack your social media account and, along with it, gain access to all your messages and personal data, which may include important passwords and bank details. Sometimes attackers may write on behalf of you to people on your friends list and ask to "borrow" money. Attackers use several methods.
For example, they may write some offensive comment under your photo on Instagram. Then the user decides to see who left the comment, but finds only an empty page with a link in the profile header. By clicking on the link, the person sees at first glance an ordinary social network (for example, VKontakte or Instagram) and windows for entering the login and password for their page. If you enter your data on such a page, the scammer will gain access to your accounts.
Each social network site, bank, store, delivery service, etc. has its own address, which always remains unchanged. Scammers can make a nearly perfect copy of a site and add an extra letter to its address or rearrange the characters. Pay attention to the links you click on. Do not click on it if it looks suspicious. You can view a list of the most popular phishing sites used by scammers on the Ministry of Internal Affairs website.
In addition to your personal data, scammers may have another goal: to steal your account if it has many followers. Then the scammer will change the username and password, and then try to extort money from you, promising to restore access to the account. Here's how it happens: you receive a message якобы from the support team of a social network (for example, Instagram), saying that you have violated the platform's rules, so your account may be blocked. If you agree to follow the instructions (provide the password and username), the scammer steals your account and promises to return it as soon as they receive a small amount, for example, $200. In a panic, the person agrees, and the scammer then says they've changed their mind and now want $500 to be transferred. This way, the amount reaches several thousand dollars, and even then there are no guarantees that you will get your account back. Do not share your usernames and passwords for social networks with anyone. Even if you violate the social network's rules, support specialists will not need your account details.
3) On trading platforms, for example, kufar.by. The scammer pretends to want to buy your item and sends a phishing link. If you are selling or buying something on Kufar, only communicate on the site and do not follow links sent by the other party. The same advice applies to purchases on other sites. Do not forget to pay attention to the store link address. It is also recommended to have a dedicated card for purchases with a small amount of money and a limit on transfers.
4) By email. Scammers send a message saying that you have якобы won some prize. To claim it, you need to click on a link that most likely contains malware. If you haven't participated in any contests, you can even ignore such emails.
It happens that scammers launch a whole mailing on behalf of popular retail chains, for example, Euroopt. It offers to take a survey and participate in a drawing for a large sum of money. It's very easy to check whether they are scammers or not: go to the official website of the trading platform and look for news about the promotions being held. If the drawing is real, it will be written about on the website. In this case, read carefully the rules for participating in it and the conditions for receiving prizes. Usually, such drawings are not held by mailings; to participate, you need to, for example, buy something in the store.
5) You can fall victim even when looking for a job. Scammers can pretend to be any well-known company in Belarus and ask you to send them your passport details. You can identify a scammer by a suspicious email address: always check it on the official websites of the companies. In addition, scammers may ask you to install remote access software that is якобы necessary for work. If you do this, with your passport data and computer access, scammers will be able to withdraw all your money.
The main danger is that we trust the employer by default and we don't have any questions when, for example, he asks for our address, passport details, bank details, etc. Do not share data that scammers could use to somehow lure your money.
To get a job abroad, it's better to use the services of Belarusian licensees , as they have official permission to help Belarusians find employment abroad. Most of these companies provide paid services.
When choosing an intermediary company abroad, there is also a risk of running into scammers who may take a deposit for a service and disappear. In some cases, you may be asked to buy an item necessary for work. For example, a laptop purchased from a strictly defined site that turns out to be a phishing one.
Do you have any questions? Contact the hotline:
8-801 201 5555, for calls within the territory of the Republic of Belarus, from landline phones and mobile operators A1, MTC, life:) the call is free
+375 162 218888, for calls from abroad and within the territory of the Republic of Belarus - payment according to long-distance tariffs
113, free calls without codes from landline phones within the territory of the Republic of Belarus
Also send your questions to the email address: bpwbrest@mail.ru.
Please indicate your name, gender, age and citizenship. Anonymity and confidentiality of your обращение are guaranteed.
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