Fraudsters hack the "victim's" account in the messenger and carefully study the correspondence with acquaintances and colleagues. Having selected a suitable interlocutor, they write him a text message on behalf of the account holder. It may not concern financial matters, for example, "Urgently send money, I have a force majeure." The task of fraudsters is to gain trust, so they can continue the previously started dialogue or raise a topic that was previously corresponded about, for example, about a friend's birthday or plans for the weekend. Having "started" a dialogue, fraudsters copy old voice messages, which convinces the interlocutor that his friend or relative is really communicating with him. Only after that, the attackers proceed to ask for financial assistance, for example, to borrow money for one day to pay for an apartment. As a result, the "victim" transfers money to a card, the number of which is sent by the fraudster.
"Old schemes are always overgrown with new details and tricks. We have already warned clients not to have telephone conversations with strangers in order to exclude voice recording. Such data is easy to use for stealing money. Previously, fraudsters used complex modern technological solutions. Now they have learned to use simple voice messages in messengers to convince people to help friends or relatives on whose behalf communication is being conducted. Be vigilant and do not give in to persuasion, check information through additional communication channels. For protection, we recommend deleting voice messages from chats after listening or setting the option for their automatic deletion," said Nikita Chugunov, Senior Vice President of VTB, Head of the Digital Business Department.
At the end of 2023, VTB recorded a decrease in fraudster attacks on retail customers for the first time in four years. The number of incidents as a whole amounted to 6.5 million - 16% less than in 2022. At the same time, among the new trends of last year are calls from fraudsters to potential victims through messengers. To identify criminals directly during an incoming call, you can connect a free caller ID. In VTB Online, the service is located in the profile settings, in the security section. It effectively identifies the source of an incoming call both when calling through cellular, landline communications, and in messengers.