Following the offer to communicate with a financial robot and remote “technical support”, scammers have mastered a new way of stealing money from bank card holders, Kommersant reports. Despite the fact that every third Russian faced a similar situation, the “updated” method allows attackers to deceive even people who closely monitor the financial market.
Financial analyst
As a means of manipulation, attackers use the names of well-known banking analysts, who often appear in the media. The recommendations suggested by fraudsters, backed by the name of a person who is popular in the financial sector, act effectively on many customers of banks – users themselves make it easy for scammers to access their own balance sheet.
The fraud scheme consists of transferring money to pseudo-investment accounts of brokerage companies. The client is called the fictitious names of investment sites that are consonant with real companies, for example, Alfacapitalkapital (consonant with Alfa Capital). Calls are also made to people who have already invested in non-existent companies like x90, Alldayoption, Binarium and GlobalFXm, ostensibly in order to facilitate the return of funds. Assistance in such cases is offered by “well-known analysts” with a guarantee of “security and safety of the client’s finances”. The victim is offered to transfer a certain amount to a Qiwi-wallet to “activate” it.
Bank experts note that analysts never contact private clients over the phone and do not consult in this mode, moreover, they do not guarantee assistance in any financial transactions. The Central Bank noted that they are actively working with both financial institutions and the media to widely inform citizens about this type of fraud.
