What to do if you become a victim of telephone scams. Mobile scam. How scammers cheat over the phone. False corporate tariff

We have become aware of a relatively new method of telephone deception. Fraudsters call mobile phone owners whose numbers are linked to bank cards and force them to transfer large sums to their accounts. In order to become a victim, it is enough to dial a certain combination of numbers and symbols on your phone.

How can you tell if someone is trying to deceive you?

The fraudulent scheme will work if the victim’s phone is linked to a bank card. If you receive notifications about card transactions (messages about receipts and debits of money) and use mobile banking, it means that your number is linked to the card and you can manage your accounts through USSD requests

What can you do if you are a victim of fraud?

Igor Dorenkov, head of the legal department, RO OZPPP “Roskontrol”:

It is most likely to return the money if banks recognize this as a massive fraud and classify such transfers as made as a result of fraudulent actions. Otherwise, it will be very difficult for the victim to prove that he entered the request without realizing what it would lead to. The specificity of such fraud lies precisely in the fact that for the bank the transfers look completely “ordinary”.

The only thing you can do on your own in this situation is to try to intercept the transfer immediately by contacting the bank operator. But in such fraudulent schemes, money is most often immediately withdrawn from accounts, and it can be extremely difficult to catch the right moment.

Universal advice, of course, is not to enter commands into your phone that you are not one hundred percent sure of. And ask advice from tech-savvy relatives and friends if you have any doubts.

With the development of cellular communications, telephone scammers have also become more active. Methods of deception grow like mushrooms after warm rain. Sometimes criminals are so convincing that even wary people who have heard about telephone scams fall for their tricks. In order to protect yourself from huge expenses, let's once again recall the most popular methods of deception.

Call back!

Telephone scammers who use this method operate in different ways.

They either dial your number and hang up after 1-2 rings, or they say in a hoarse voice: “Hello! How are you..." - and they interrupt the sentence mid-sentence. Most often, we call back using a lost number. In the first case, because it’s interesting. In the second, because we are sure that we did not recognize our friend who had a cold. The end result of such a “call back” is clear: there is no money left on the phone. By the way, sometimes telephone scammers do not call, but send a message asking to call back or asking: “How are you?”

A call center operator is talking to you

In this case, telephone scammers pose as the operator of Beeline, Housing and Communal Services, the Ministry, or whatever. In a mechanical voice, they recite phrases about new, very profitable services and offer to connect them without leaving home. The result is the same - goodbye money!

Preferential tariff

Particularly effective in cities with a large number of emigrants. They are offered to call home at a reduced rate. Needless to say, people are happy to take advantage of the “benefits”, the operator does not receive money, and the owner of the phone “finds” a large sum.

You have won a prize

These telephone scammers may pose as radio or television DJs. They happily report (in conversation or via SMS) that you won a car (TV, phone, travel package). You only need to call the specified number or send an SMS. All. No money left.

Your salary card is blocked

I almost fell for this trick myself. On the day you received the money (!), you received a message: “The bank informs you that your card is blocked for technical reasons. To change your PIN code, call the number or follow the link.” I noticed that the number was in a different region at the last second. Naturally, a call to the bank confirmed that nothing was blocked from me.

Your son is in trouble

A very old but still effective scam. They report over the phone that your relative is in trouble, and only a large sum of money can help him, which needs to be brought to the address... And they deliver the money!

Let's take care of ourselves

I could go on and on about the ways phone owners have. But it’s better to list the basic rules of behavior that will help you save considerable amounts.

1. Never call back or send SMS to unknown numbers, even if they are not four-digit.
2. If you can’t wait to call back, first “type” the number into any search engine. There you can find more than one list of telephone scams; they are published quite often.
3. Don't be greedy. Remember that even in a mousetrap there is no free cheese, the mouse pays for it with his life.
4. When you receive a message about a relative in trouble, first call him back and you will be sure that you were communicating with crooks.
5. But if you are still deceived by telephone scammers, where should you turn? To the nearest police station. They are simply obliged to accept your application and conduct an investigation.

Today, a great variety of telephone deceptions have proliferated, however, they are usually based on several standard and fairly simple schemes. Moreover, there are clearly illegal ways to extract money from you, and there are those that even the prosecutor’s office cannot get into. Here are the most common ones.

SMS quiz

Send as many SMS as possible to number such and such and win a TV (car, trip, etc.)! Sounds familiar, doesn't it? And in small letters it is written that each short message costs one, two, or even more US dollars, and every thousandth wins. So it turns out, figuratively, that at best you win $100, having spent $1000 on email messages. A very common “scam” that still finds its audience.

SMS giveaway

An SMS is received with the following content: “System message. Promotion! Transfer money to such and such number and get exactly twice as much!” Of course, all lovers of easy money start the test small - send, say, 100 rubles. They receive 200 rubles in return. They send 200 rubles and receive 400 rubles. Wow, it works! And here it can suffer. They send, say, 2000 rubles - everything that was in the account - and in response - nothing. They just played a giveaway game with you using mobile transfer systems.

SMS dating

An SMS comes from supposedly a girl with an offer to meet her. The target audience is exclusively men. A friendly lisp begins, a thirst to quickly get to know each other better. He even sends you a photo... In general, we send a number of messages to an unfamiliar number, and then we look - again a decent amount has leaked somewhere from the account. Someone masterfully played the role of a “girl wanting to meet someone.”

“Deposit 200 rubles into your account. Masha"

The most widespread and difficult to prove type of fraud, which almost every mobile phone owner has encountered. An SMS with the request: “I’ve run out of money, top up my account. Masha." Some subscribers, especially people of retirement age, top up the account of scammers, thinking that someone they know or close is writing. Then, with the help of “mobile transfer” systems, the money is transferred to other phone numbers of the scammers, so that they cannot be hooked on the first displayed number in the phones of numerous victims.

Give me the money!

You will receive an SMS notifying you that funds have been deposited into your account. Hmm... A few seconds later the call. The voice reports that it has just mistakenly transferred money to the wrong number and asks to return it using the Mobile Transfer service. In fact, they demand a refund from your user account - which in fact has not changed. Not every subscriber will immediately check their balance, but has the account actually been replenished?

We want to deceive you. Confirm

Many operators have multiple tariffs for services for subscribers. When ordering a service, we send an SMS message to a short number. In response, we receive a request to confirm something additional (age, desire to use the service, etc.). And the answer to such a request is charged according to some cosmic figures. Again, deception.

A year of free calls!

They are calling supposedly from a radio station as part of a joint promotion with your operator. Send the codes of two brand new payment cards and get a year of free calls! Of course, the telecom operator does not carry out any promotions in this way, and your money has been added to the accounts of the scammers. Various super-favorable lifetime rates may also be offered.

GSM Cloning

Your SIM card, having been in the hands of another person, can be copied to the computer’s memory using a special device, and from there to a new SIM card. Pirated equipment for these purposes can today be found freely available online. Moreover, the user of a duplicate of your SIM card - and with it your number - can act quietly and carefully, so that you do not immediately detect an unjustified systematic leak of money from your personal account. How to protect yourself? Just like when using a credit card, never let your SIM card out of your sight, much less into the hands of strangers.

Helpdesk-1 speaking

A call to a telephone is represented by a subscriber service. The incoming phone number is either mobile or not detected. Dear client, says engineer on duty Ivan Vasiliev. Our service transfers phones to another communication frequency (some technical work is being carried out, etc.). Phone number, balance, everything else will not change, don’t worry! Dial *145 on your phone keypad... Attention! *145* is the beginning of the combination of numbers that begins the transfer of money from the personal account of one subscriber to the personal account of another. You voluntarily transfer money as part of the Mobile Transfer service. Irrevocably. Neither the operator nor the police will help you return what was naively lost.

Helpdesk 2 speaking

Hello, technical support service, engineer on duty Vasily Ivanov. We're having some technical problems here, your number is accidentally blocked and the caller ID information is being transmitted incorrectly. Please call the number (they start dictating)... Phone number of a paid service. That is, for a call to this phone number N is withdrawn from your personal account, which is limited by the imagination of the “service organizers”. You should know that the technical services of cellular operators do not make such calls in principle.

Helpdesk 3 speaking

Hello, technical support service, engineer on duty Ivan Vasiliev. You changed your tariff plan without notifying our cellular communication company (did not make payments on time, used roaming services, etc.). You need to pay a certain amount of the fine by sending the payment card number to the specified phone number.

Helpdesk-4 speaking

Technical support, Vasily Ivanov (call or SMS). Your phone is blocked, you need to call such and such a number. At the other end of the line there is an answering machine that will briefly explain what you need to do so as not to lose your old number or confirm that you will continue to use the services of this network. There, of course, they will ask you to dial a certain combination of numbers to unlock. Such spam mailings are usually carried out en masse, targeting gullible users.

Relative in trouble

A call from a friend (colleague) of your relative or loved one. Like, something bad happened (road accident, explosion, things became bad on the street, accident, other emergency). A call from someone else's number because the phone of your wife (husband, child, grandmother, aunt, uncle, etc.) has run out of battery. There is not enough money in the account, and in order to solve problems, you still need to call a lot of places. They urgently require you to top up the balance of an unknown number. Fast! It’s better to buy a top-up card and dictate the secret code. A pure trust game with many variations on the theme of people worrying about their loved ones. Night calls are especially effective, especially if the voice introduces itself as a traffic police officer or another law enforcement or security service. There are also more terrible cases when people are faced with blackmail and asking for kickbacks in continuation of the theme “your child was caught buying drugs.”

SMS request

I receive an SMS with approximately the following content: “I have problems, call such and such a number, if the number does not answer, put so many rubles on it and call again.” Sometimes you just receive a message: “I’m in the hospital, put money on the number and I’ll call you back later.” You should not immediately rush to top up the account of an unfamiliar number - most likely, this is a case of blatant fraud.

False prize

The host of a famous music radio station allegedly calls and congratulates you on winning a valuable prize. To receive a prize, you need to call within a minute to such and such a radio station number, where you will once again be congratulated on your victory. It is possible that a feeling of joy has already come over you, and you have become more trusting. In addition, you only need to buy a top-up card within half an hour and tell the “DJ” its details - the last condition in order to collect the prize, for example, to pay VAT. At the radio station itself, as it turns out later, no prize awaits you.

Expensive short number

Using short numbers (a set of four digits), you can call the rescue service, popular radio stations, get legal support, contact an insurance company, call a taxi and much more. Such services are provided by third-party providers under a formal agreement with your cellular operator on mutually beneficial terms. For the services provided to each client of a cellular operator, the service provider probably deducts some percentage of the profit. You call a specially indicated number for the appropriate reason. A person will provide you with information. He will question you in detail, take a minute or two to find answers to your specific questions. Well, then you find out that for a conversation with a polite girl, a tidy sum was debited from your account, say $30 for 10 minutes of conversation! Deception? No, everything is fair. At the same time, various cunning techniques are actively used to hide information about the cost of such services. So that it is impossible to be held liable under the article “consumer deception.”

The merciless deception of a deceiver

A letter came to my email with an offer to download a program that could find a secret code for a hundred-dollar payment card. To do this, you need to enter the code of a card worth, say, $10 in the program field. The real ten dollars float away to the scammer, and in return you get a completely useless set of numbers.

False corporate tariff

You receive an email message from an alleged employee of a large company who is responsible for connecting to a corporate tariff plan. They say, if you wish, for a certain bribe of about $50, you can be connected on favorable terms. At the end of the day, they promise to send by mail a SIM card with lifetime unlimited local communication, activated international roaming and a constantly maintained account balance of, say, $300. Moreover, you can choose any Big Three operator as a telecom operator, since we are talking about connecting to a large transnational offshore corporation. The offer is valid for a week, since new employees are being hired, and all the paperwork needs to be done “on the sly.”

Deceitful corporate tariff-2

Private offer for a similar tariff plan. Without signing any contract. At a private meeting with an agent, handing over paper money, you receive a real SIM card in your hands. It is indeed activated, and the agreed amount is in the account. But the buyer's happiness does not last long, because... the seller, having received the money, goes straight to the subscriber service center at the operator’s office and, being the only legal owner of the number, simply receives a free duplicate of the SIM card that he allegedly lost. The one that remains in the hands of the buyer becomes invalid.

Deceitful content provider

The website of a usually small content provider indicates a number of interesting services that can be ordered for permanent use - access to movie collections, discounts on wap traffic, caller location services, etc. But in addition to sending an SMS application to a short number, you are asked to dial a special code to activate it. And the code turns out to be a number assigned to the provider of paid telephone lines in the countries of America, Africa, Asia, Europe, etc. As a result, the user receives a bill for an expensive international call. No right to dispute written-off funds.

You didn’t sign an agreement - you still have to pay!

In January and February 2010, new information emerged about messages demanding payment of a mobile phone bill. Although people did not sign contracts for the indicated numbers. It turned out that the scammers used the passport data of people not involved in the agreement, subsequently presenting them with certain monetary demands. According to the MTS company, in 2009, about 20 thousand complaints were recorded regarding fictitious contracts with this operator in Russia.

It costs a lot to unsubscribe from spam

You receive an SMS that you are subscribed to the weather forecast service, 7 days free, or to another unexpected spam mailing. To disconnect, you need to dial STOP to such and such a four-digit number. There is, of course, not a word about this number on the operator’s official website. And the money in your account will noticeably decrease.

Is it fantastic to be charged a cosmic amount for picking up the phone?

Call from an unknown number. Once you press the “reply” button, money will be debited from your account. The end result will be a decent amount. SMS with a request to call back to an unknown phone works the same way. Most likely, scammers connect to the network in another region, and the “call at the interlocutor’s expense” service is activated on the number. And the debit goes through a channel created by scammers specifically for these purposes.

Finally. According to Beeline, in January-February of this year, the number of requests for fraud to the central help desk fluctuated at 1000-1200 messages per day. Often employees of mobile operators themselves, dealers and especially content providers of various sizes are involved in mobile fraud. The leaders in fraudulent abuses today are content providers - small firms that enter into partnership agreements with mobile operators to provide additional services in the field of mobile communications. They are focused on quickly generating income and leaving the market.

In this regard, mobile operators began to reduce the number of partners who have the right to sell pictures, video clips, melodies and other types of content for mobile phones to their subscribers. After all, with a smaller number of providers, it is easier to monitor the quality and characteristics of the transmitted information. Also this year, mobile operators began to revise partnership agreements, introducing a clause on the collection of fines comparable to the partner’s monthly revenue on a particular short number. Thus cutting off unscrupulous players. Forcing others to more carefully conduct control measures among their subcontractors, because often short numbers are subleased, and it turns out that this third party becomes a fraudster, and not the main tenant.

Complex contractual relationships sometimes cause difficulties in determining the guilt of specific companies. But in any case, the name of the cellular operator itself suffers. As a rule, we blame them for all mobile sins. This forces them to become increasingly involved in the fight against mobile fraud, to develop the function of requesting confirmation from the subscriber (to send a message to a short number, to pay for a service, etc.).

Talk to your operator, demand, threaten to refuse services in favor of a competitor. Today, it is extremely important to master the topic of security on the mobile network, as well as on the Internet and the road network. Even if the light turns green, you should still look around before crossing the road. What if someone rushes towards you at breakneck speed and doesn’t have time to slow down? Then will you blame the faulty traffic lights?

By the way

The Arbitration Court of the Magadan Region found the mobile operator guilty of unlawfully debiting funds from a subscriber's account when using short SMS numbers. Until now, liability in similar situations was borne by content providers who rented such numbers from operators. If the courts take into account the decision of the Magadan arbitration, mobile operators will face serious fines: in 2009, fraudulent schemes through SMS payments accounted for $38-45.6 million.

Fraudsters came up with the idea of ​​using telephone communications to extort money from gullible subscribers back in the era of the proliferation of home telephones. The advent of mobile devices has increased the number of users and opened up new opportunities for illegally emptying other people's wallets. In addition, it is quite difficult to prove the fact of deception and bring the perpetrators to justice. This explains the ever-increasing number of victims of telephone fraud.

Who can be a victim of fraud?

The peculiarity of the crime is that it can be directed simultaneously against many persons. The most vulnerable in this regard are adolescents and members of the older generation. However, the types of telephone fraud are very diverse, and psychological methods of influence force even the most distrustful and prejudiced people to succumb to deception. The victim can be selected randomly by dialing a random number.

If a specific, usually wealthy person is selected, the crime undergoes little preliminary preparation. The attackers get hold of some information about the alleged target, his relatives and friends. Awareness of their characters, habits and pastimes helps to give greater credibility to the version presented. The same purpose is served by using programs to imitate voice or process photographs.

Ways to extort money over the phone

The fraudster may be located in another city or country, which further complicates the investigation. Also, several persons and even those in prison can participate in the scam. From time to time, criminals invent new ways of deception. In essence, they are modified versions of old, time-tested schemes, the effectiveness of which does not lose its power. They have many variations, but are grouped according to several common characteristics.

Mobile transfer

The victim receives a fake message stating that a certain amount has been added to her phone balance. After which the scammer calls with a request to return the erroneously transferred funds. Also, scammers by telephone can be expressed in a threat to disconnect the number for violations. To prevent this measure, it is proposed to transfer the fine amount to the specified number.

Treacherous code

The subscriber is asked to enter a certain code on the phone, after which money from his account is transferred to the criminal’s balance. The following are used as motivation:

• an offer to connect the service at a favorable rate;
• unblock your phone number;
• resolve problems with the card.

Call to a paid number

The victim is forced in various ways to call a specific number. Since the call is paid, money from his mobile account is withdrawn at a high rate in favor of the swindler. To implement the scheme, the criminal:

1. It rings and abruptly hangs up. When trying to call back, the victim gets an answering machine or hears long beeps.
2. He introduces himself as a relative or friend and asks to call him back because the money in his account is running out.
3. Offers to take part in a lottery, for which you need to call the specified number.
4. Borrows a phone from a passerby on the street to make a call.

Express payment card code

The subscriber is informed about the large win awarded to him. To receive winnings, he is required to register and receive a winner number. To do this, accordingly, you need to deposit a certain amount to your phone balance using an express payment card. He cannot do this on his own, which is why he must provide the card code to the fraudster.

Unblocking a bank card

Bank card fraud over the phone involves a “bank employee” calling the victim and telling them about a server failure. As a result of this failure, the account or card was blocked. To unlock them, you need to provide your card number, PIN code, password from your personal account and other confidential data. Or it is proposed to replenish the bank's control account.

Helping a relative

The victim is notified via phone call or SMS that his close relative has committed an offense and is in the police station. To help him out, you need to transfer a certain amount of money in any possible way. For example:

• via courier;
• by crediting to the fraudster’s mobile number;
• transfer to a bank account.

Examples of how it can be implemented:

1. Pretend to be the relative himself. However, his voice is difficult to identify due to poor audibility and extraneous noise.
2. Impersonate a stranger who has been asked by a relative of the victim to make a call because he himself is deprived of such an opportunity.
3. Introduce yourself as a law enforcement officer.

How to respond to suspicious calls

What to do if the call causes distrust:

1. Ask more specific questions about the identity of the caller, his position, the name of the branch (bank, police or agency), official website, and the ability to contact superiors. The attacker will be betrayed by uncertainty in his voice and pauses in his answers.
2. Don’t rush to comply with the caller’s demands and ask for time to think.
3. Having received a request for help, try to call a relative on the previous number or interview relatives about his alleged whereabouts.
4. Under no circumstances provide confidential information: codes, account numbers, logins and passwords on social media. networks and more.

Where to contact in cases of telephone fraud

Where to contact if telephone fraud has already occurred:

• contact the nearest police station;
• submit an application to department “K” on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Additionally, you can report the call to the cellular company that owns the attacker’s number. If the operator blocks the specified number, this will help protect other users.

The application must contain information about:

• the caller and his phone number;
• received questions (requirements);
• the amount of the extorted amount.

You can also contact the operator for a printout of incoming calls, which you can submit along with your application. The decision to initiate a case will be made within a month. You can download a sample statement to the police regarding fraud on our website.

How to get your money back

If the victim was deceived by mobile scammers, you can get your money back in the following ways:

1. If the numbers of the victim and the scammer (to which the money was transferred) are serviced by the same cellular company, you should try to contact the operator as soon as possible. It is possible to return the stolen amount to your phone account.
2. File a civil lawsuit for damages, since the task of law enforcement agencies is precisely to find violators, and not to recover damages from them.
3. In cases where funds are debited from a bank card in an unknown way (without contact with the victim), you additionally need to contact the bank. This institution (according to the decision of the Central Bank adopted in 2016) undertakes to compensate the client for the damage incurred. The decision is justified by the responsibility of the banking institution for inadequate protection of plastic cards, which allowed the criminal to take possession of the funds.

Responsibility for telephone fraud

The corpus delicti is formed by the following features:

• persistent urge to take a specific action;
• the specific amount extorted by the criminal.

Their absence indicates a voluntary decision.

Unfinished crime

If the subscriber ignores the attacker’s demands, telephone fraud is considered unfinished and is classified as preparation for a crime. In such cases, liability is provided only for preparation for grave and especially grave crimes (Article 30 of the Criminal Code). Their qualifying features:

• the amount extorted exceeds 250,000 rubles;
• the subject of the crime is a residential premises;
• the attackers acted as part of an organized group;
• preparation was carried out using official position.

Administrative punishment

Fraud is qualified under Art. 7.27 Code of Administrative Offenses on “Petty theft”, if:

1. There are no aggravating circumstances.
2. The assigned amount does not exceed 2500 rubles.

Art. 7.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses contains two paragraphs.

Paragraph 1
If the stolen amount does not exceed 1000 rubles, the punishment will be:

• a fine in the amount of 1000 to 5000 rubles;
• arrest, the maximum period of which is 15 days;
• compulsory labor for no more than 50 hours.

Point 2
If the amount of funds appropriated is more than 1000 rubles, but does not exceed 2500 rubles, the following is assigned:

• a fine in the amount of 3,000 to 12,500 rubles;
• imprisonment for a period of 10 to 15 days;
• compulsory work for up to 120 hours.

How to avoid falling for the tricks of telephone scammers - see the video below:

Criminal liability

If the case is aggravated by qualifying features or the amount of theft exceeds 2,500 rubles, the criminal will be held accountable under Art. 159 of the Criminal Code. The severity of the punishment depends on the amount of damage. Clause 1 Art. 159 of the Criminal Code provides for the imposition of:

1. fine in the amount of:
   • up to 120,000 rub.;
   • income for a period of up to 1 year;
2. compulsory labor activity for up to 360 hours;
3. corrective labor for no more than 1 year;
4. restrictions of freedom for a period not exceeding 2 years;
5. forced labor, the maximum period of which is 2 years;
6. arrest for up to 4 months;
7. imprisonment for up to 2 years.

In the presence of aggravating circumstances specified in paragraphs. 2–7 tbsp. 159 of the Criminal Code, punishment can reach 1 million rubles. or 10 years in prison.

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