April 17, 2007 at 21:48The most popular frauds on the Internet today
Good day Ladies and Gentlemen!
I decided to start the topic on the account of fraud on the Internet, I think the topic is relevant for today.
A hundred people fall under fraud. As they say, whoever is warned is armed! Be careful!
It seems to everyone: anyone can cheat or rob, but not me. Especially when it comes to fraud on the Internet. Even those who once fell into the bait of swindlers are sure: now I am careful and this will not happen again.
But the thing is that the World Wide Web is a bottomless barrel of all kinds of scams. Its openness, and most importantly, legal impunity, contribute to the creation of more and more tricks. Citizens can only fill up cones and share sad experiences with friends. Journalists tried to put together the most popular types of cyber fraud today and warn Muscovites about them.
"We make a horoscope "
Ads offering to order a personal horoscope, just teeming with the World Wide Web. The authors promise to send it quickly and for free. The user is invited to fill out a standard form (name, surname, date of birth) and, of course, leave your email address. An astrology lover indicates all these data, but instead of a horoscope, a letter with one more condition falls into his mailbox: in order to receive an order, you must send an SMS message with a set of certain numbers to the specified number. If the client is doing this, a few dollars will fly off his mobile phone account. In the best case, a horoscope will indeed be sent to him. And right away, which already raises doubts about its uniqueness. At worst, they will not send anything. And if after the first stage of the procedure (sending data) the candidate for suckers stops, he will receive attractive messages for a long time to the mailbox.
“ Help the child! ”
This is the most blasphemous form of online fraud, since it is about speculation on sick children. The text about a seriously ill child with his photo is distributed through live magazines, sent to mailboxes or posted on an online forum. The author of the message tells a tearful story about a boy (girl) whose parents cannot pay for an expensive operation (medication). Anyone who wants to help is invited to transfer money to a bank account (details are attached) or make a payment through the Web Mani system.
The authors of such messages can post on the Internet either a photo of a really sick baby taken from a charity site or any "left" one. Thanks to this, it came to the point that citizens, having found any request for help on the Internet, cease to believe such announcements and sometimes turn away from people who really need urgent treatment.
Tip: when you see an announcement about raising money for a child, establish a personal contact with his author or relatives of the patient. Specify the name of the child, the diagnosis in which hospital lies. And agree on the transfer of money from hand to hand.
" We steal other people's negotiations! "
Scam for jealous husbands and wives. A person sitting in ICQ receives a spam message from a stranger offering services for hacking mailboxes, and most importantly - details of mobile conversations (information about incoming and outgoing with the data of number owners) and decryption of SMS messages.
“Six months ago, my suspicions crept in that my husband was going to the left,” said Tatyana, 32, a marketer, “but there was no certainty. And here at work I get this message. I wrote it to the author at the specified email address, he sent the answer: they say, we carry out the order within 1-2 days. Information about the negotiations over the past 2 months costs $ 80, you need to transfer them using the Web Mani or Yandex.Money systems. I sent the money right away
The correspondent entered into correspondence with the author of a similar spam message. Sensing the profit, the swindler patiently corresponded with me for about two weeks. Immediately warning that negotiations were impossible by telephone, he said that they received the data directly from mobile operators. After transferring the advance payment (half the cost of the order), a part of the information is shown to the client. And only after receiving the full amount the entire file is sent. To the question of what guarantees that after receiving the advance the order will actually be sent, the unknown could not answer anything intelligible. Communication is over ...
“Obtaining such data is a difficult thing even for detectives,” a friend told us, who worked for many years as the head of the criminal investigation department. - To take the details, we need to get a court order at the request of the prosecutor's office. And then usually it is practiced only for serious crimes. I don’t think that detailing is so easy to buy on the Internet.
However, familiar hackers have a different opinion:
- Selling such information is a real thing. But in your case, the deception is indicated by the fact that an unknown person asks for half the money in advance. A real hacker will first send a part of the details to the client and only after that will ask for money.
" Buy Ads! "
Potential customers are smartphone owners. The meaning of advertisements published on the Internet is service for service. The owner of the phone can download and install a special program on his phone for free, thanks to which this or that advertising picture will be displayed on the mobile phone’s display with every incoming call or SMS message. And the owner of the phone, in turn, will receive dividends from each such banner. Those who have tried disagree. Some argue that if you talk a lot, you can really make good money. But the majority assures that 200 rubles came to their account in a month on their strength.
A company offering this type of mediation most likely just wants to test a new type of advertising, see how effective it is. But familiar hackers explained: there is no guarantee that today (tomorrow) they (hackers) or their colleagues will not register malicious code in such a program. In this case, SMS will be sent to expensive servers from the subscriber’s phone without his knowledge. Usually in this case, it takes from 3 to 5 dollars per message. Sending may occur infrequently, and a single owner of the smartphone may not notice the loss. And the malicious code, by the way, can be sent without the owner’s knowledge from his phone to other people.
“ Buy your ICQ number! ”
My next person is Peter and he is very lucky for Internet pests.
“It started at the beginning of December last year,” the young man recalls. - Several times, opening the ICQ program at home, I found a message that it was already being used by another computer. At first I thought that someone at work turned on my computer and my ICQ started automatically there. But then there were suspicions that an unknown person had stolen my password and was using my ICQ.
Peter's Internet pager number is long, unforgettable. Therefore, the thief’s goal was clearly not to get it for himself. The victim soon found out about his intentions.
- In the end, I got myself a new “ICQ” and entered into correspondence with the old one on it, continues Peter. - Rather, with her new master. I told him: "Brother, it would be nice to return the number." Answer: "What will it be for me?" The thief demanded to transfer $ 40 to him via Web-Money. Of course, I stopped negotiations - the fool with him, with the old number ...
And other owners are ready to pay the blackmailer money - for example, if his contact list includes more than one hundred numbers and it will be problematic to restore it. But the adventures of Peter did not end there. By evening, puzzled friends and acquaintances began to call him. It turned out that the man who stole the “ICQ” went through his contact list. And he sent a message to each addressee with his request to transfer $ 10 by Web-Money. Like, urgently need money. A few people sent money and now they called to find out what happened to the guy.
And sometimes a “hijacker" can send a virus to his victim’s contacts. Therefore, each Internet user needs to remember: if a friend sent via ICQ some link before opening it, call him and ask,
“ We offer homework! ” The
art of cashing in on those who are looking for work, Russian scammers mastered even in pre-Internet times. They simply transferred their simple scheme to the World Wide Web.
“Scammers post ads on the Web that they need typesetters,” says the same Peter. - Wanting to earn some money, I answered several offers. I filled out the questionnaires sent to me and received answers from different addresses with the same (!) Text. "I work in a publishing house. You will need to retype the manuscripts of the authors on a computer. Payment - 26 rubles per page A4. We are ready to send you a trial order - photographs of manuscripts from which you need to type. But first, transfer to us via Yandex. Money "or" Web-money "50 rubles. This will guarantee that you are fulfilling the order." Like, a printing house cannot be scattered with copyright texts - it must answer to customers. I was amused by the fact that there are "printing houses", which, according to the authors of the messages,
“ Mobile for free! ”
Now the most popular two methods of such scams.
The first is used by unscrupulous online stores. They announce on their sites that the start of a cool mobile phone. To participate, you need to buy two discs from them (for example, music), and at the end of the week there will be a raffle among buyers. But to see firsthand the one who won, of course, no one will let you. Although the store’s website will show information in a couple of days that the number of winners this week has increased.
The second way is even simpler: scammers arrange something like an auction. They suggest you send to a specific SMS message number. Naturally, paid. Whoever sends more will get an expensive mobile phone. Messages that are sent to your inbox that you are only a couple of SMS behind the leader will warm up your excitement. As a result, you will spend all the money on your mobile phone, and they will tell you: "You sent 25 messages, and the winner - 26. Try again next time."
IMMEDIATELY RESERVE. Not all of the TYPICAL Internet ads listed above will surely leave you in the cold. But is it worth the risk? To lose 10-20 dollars is, of course, not unprofitable. However, for a fraudster to get $ 10 from twenty of the same as you, is already a good gain.
Who are they - online crooks?
Every day they receive a mountain of advertisements by e-mail, they ask: "Whose hands are these, how do spammers find our addresses and why can no one stop them?" The representative of such a business told about this and many other things to MK. 35-year-old Sergey has been engaged in electronic mailing for several years.
> - How do you find the addresses of our mailboxes?
- On the Internet there are a bunch of databases and directories like yellow pages. There, in addition to the actual addresses and phone numbers of companies, their e-mail is often indicated. Databases for employees of a particular organization are also easy to get. The addresses of personal mailboxes we take from forums, live magazines, etc. When traveling on the Internet, people often have to register somewhere and leave their e-mail.
- You are right: whenever possible, I do not leave my e-mail anywhere, so spam almost does not come to me.
- This is also not an option. It is much more convenient to have one mailbox for personal correspondence, and keep another one for various forums - let anything pour in there.
- Having received the advertisement, some users send an angry letter to the address from which it came. And the answer immediately comes to them: such an address no longer exists.
- Yes, each address is unique, and due to the fact that they are constantly being filtered on the Internet, you have to constantly change the boxes. It used to be simpler, but spammers themselves unwittingly complicated their task. A few years ago, we decided to work in a civilized manner and out of respect for the recipient and designate the letter in the subject line as “Spam” or “Advertising”. But such messages began to be immediately blocked, and they simply did not reach the addressees. We have to act more sophisticated.
- Why do not fighters with advertising mailings stop them in any way?
- Ha! Those who fight with them, for example, authors of antivirus programs that offer mailbox owners to buy antispam from them, are beneficial if this phenomenon exists. As long as there is spam, there will be a demand for anti-programs, and you can release more and more. Therefore, we talk a lot about laws prohibiting spam, but it is unlikely that this will be adopted in the near future. This is not beneficial to anyone.
- Do you post any announcements? Even all sorts of financial pyramids?
- I do not see anything reprehensible in the distribution of such announcements. For the scam is the responsibility of those who offer it. Our business is to fulfill orders. But there are a number of taboos in our midst. For example, no one will ever send out child pornography ads. After all, we ourselves have children. For the same reason, we do not send out fake requests for help to sick children. The person who tries to distribute them will be immediately kicked out of our business. He is blocked by oxygen by everyone with whom he collaborated on the Internet. And the authors of those posts that are still slipping through are more likely random people. Just a few months ago, one spammer tried to do such a “charity”, and although he later justified that a large percentage of his profit was allegedly transferred to charity organizations,
And further. Not so long ago, an interesting page appeared on the Internet: "We offer an encyclopedia of all-all-all known Internet frauds in the world. By reading this book, you can resist crooks and you will never get on their network!". Its authors only ask you to transfer 10 rubles to their electronic wallet, and then you will be shown the path by which you can download it to your computer. So you can try. At least, if this time (God forbid!) Deceived you, this will be the most beautiful scam in the history of the Internet.
WHERE TO CONTACT VICTIMS? /
According to the Center for the Study of Computer Crime, in Russia last year about 14 thousand cybercrimes were recorded. These are mainly false offers of goods and services, services for organizing hacker attacks, scams with electronic payment cards and customer accounts of electronic payment systems. More than 450 such scams were able to stop.
Where to contact if you are a victim of online scams? The question, of course, is interesting ...
“The R management was abolished a few years ago,” MK said in the Moscow police department. - The profile unit remained only in the Ministry of Internal Affairs - department "K". So if you have been hit by hackers, there are two options. The first is to contact the Ministry of Internal Affairs immediately, the second is to write a statement to the nearest ATS. In the latter case, local police will decide for themselves what to do with it: either they will hand over to the district or the same Ministry of Internal Affairs, or they will try to solve the crime themselves.
Why is such a necessary management disbanded at the police department? Law enforcement officers only cautiously notice that the decisions of the authorities are not discussed. It is only known that some of the fighters against hackers from the Moscow administration of "R" then moved to work in other areas - for example, to deal with tax crimes, and some generally went to "civilian".
- The high-tech market is developing at a frantic pace. And, unfortunately, neither law enforcement officers nor lawmakers keep up with him, ”says lawyer Pyotr Dombrovitsky, who had to deal with similar cases. - In such things, law enforcement officers are inert, and you can turn their attention to your case only with the help of an official statement to the police or the prosecutor's office.
a source
I decided to start the topic on the account of fraud on the Internet, I think the topic is relevant for today.
A hundred people fall under fraud. As they say, whoever is warned is armed! Be careful!
It seems to everyone: anyone can cheat or rob, but not me. Especially when it comes to fraud on the Internet. Even those who once fell into the bait of swindlers are sure: now I am careful and this will not happen again.
But the thing is that the World Wide Web is a bottomless barrel of all kinds of scams. Its openness, and most importantly, legal impunity, contribute to the creation of more and more tricks. Citizens can only fill up cones and share sad experiences with friends. Journalists tried to put together the most popular types of cyber fraud today and warn Muscovites about them.
"We make a horoscope "
Ads offering to order a personal horoscope, just teeming with the World Wide Web. The authors promise to send it quickly and for free. The user is invited to fill out a standard form (name, surname, date of birth) and, of course, leave your email address. An astrology lover indicates all these data, but instead of a horoscope, a letter with one more condition falls into his mailbox: in order to receive an order, you must send an SMS message with a set of certain numbers to the specified number. If the client is doing this, a few dollars will fly off his mobile phone account. In the best case, a horoscope will indeed be sent to him. And right away, which already raises doubts about its uniqueness. At worst, they will not send anything. And if after the first stage of the procedure (sending data) the candidate for suckers stops, he will receive attractive messages for a long time to the mailbox.
“ Help the child! ”
This is the most blasphemous form of online fraud, since it is about speculation on sick children. The text about a seriously ill child with his photo is distributed through live magazines, sent to mailboxes or posted on an online forum. The author of the message tells a tearful story about a boy (girl) whose parents cannot pay for an expensive operation (medication). Anyone who wants to help is invited to transfer money to a bank account (details are attached) or make a payment through the Web Mani system.
The authors of such messages can post on the Internet either a photo of a really sick baby taken from a charity site or any "left" one. Thanks to this, it came to the point that citizens, having found any request for help on the Internet, cease to believe such announcements and sometimes turn away from people who really need urgent treatment.
Tip: when you see an announcement about raising money for a child, establish a personal contact with his author or relatives of the patient. Specify the name of the child, the diagnosis in which hospital lies. And agree on the transfer of money from hand to hand.
" We steal other people's negotiations! "
Scam for jealous husbands and wives. A person sitting in ICQ receives a spam message from a stranger offering services for hacking mailboxes, and most importantly - details of mobile conversations (information about incoming and outgoing with the data of number owners) and decryption of SMS messages.
“Six months ago, my suspicions crept in that my husband was going to the left,” said Tatyana, 32, a marketer, “but there was no certainty. And here at work I get this message. I wrote it to the author at the specified email address, he sent the answer: they say, we carry out the order within 1-2 days. Information about the negotiations over the past 2 months costs $ 80, you need to transfer them using the Web Mani or Yandex.Money systems. I sent the money right away
The correspondent entered into correspondence with the author of a similar spam message. Sensing the profit, the swindler patiently corresponded with me for about two weeks. Immediately warning that negotiations were impossible by telephone, he said that they received the data directly from mobile operators. After transferring the advance payment (half the cost of the order), a part of the information is shown to the client. And only after receiving the full amount the entire file is sent. To the question of what guarantees that after receiving the advance the order will actually be sent, the unknown could not answer anything intelligible. Communication is over ...
“Obtaining such data is a difficult thing even for detectives,” a friend told us, who worked for many years as the head of the criminal investigation department. - To take the details, we need to get a court order at the request of the prosecutor's office. And then usually it is practiced only for serious crimes. I don’t think that detailing is so easy to buy on the Internet.
However, familiar hackers have a different opinion:
- Selling such information is a real thing. But in your case, the deception is indicated by the fact that an unknown person asks for half the money in advance. A real hacker will first send a part of the details to the client and only after that will ask for money.
" Buy Ads! "
Potential customers are smartphone owners. The meaning of advertisements published on the Internet is service for service. The owner of the phone can download and install a special program on his phone for free, thanks to which this or that advertising picture will be displayed on the mobile phone’s display with every incoming call or SMS message. And the owner of the phone, in turn, will receive dividends from each such banner. Those who have tried disagree. Some argue that if you talk a lot, you can really make good money. But the majority assures that 200 rubles came to their account in a month on their strength.
A company offering this type of mediation most likely just wants to test a new type of advertising, see how effective it is. But familiar hackers explained: there is no guarantee that today (tomorrow) they (hackers) or their colleagues will not register malicious code in such a program. In this case, SMS will be sent to expensive servers from the subscriber’s phone without his knowledge. Usually in this case, it takes from 3 to 5 dollars per message. Sending may occur infrequently, and a single owner of the smartphone may not notice the loss. And the malicious code, by the way, can be sent without the owner’s knowledge from his phone to other people.
“ Buy your ICQ number! ”
My next person is Peter and he is very lucky for Internet pests.
“It started at the beginning of December last year,” the young man recalls. - Several times, opening the ICQ program at home, I found a message that it was already being used by another computer. At first I thought that someone at work turned on my computer and my ICQ started automatically there. But then there were suspicions that an unknown person had stolen my password and was using my ICQ.
Peter's Internet pager number is long, unforgettable. Therefore, the thief’s goal was clearly not to get it for himself. The victim soon found out about his intentions.
- In the end, I got myself a new “ICQ” and entered into correspondence with the old one on it, continues Peter. - Rather, with her new master. I told him: "Brother, it would be nice to return the number." Answer: "What will it be for me?" The thief demanded to transfer $ 40 to him via Web-Money. Of course, I stopped negotiations - the fool with him, with the old number ...
And other owners are ready to pay the blackmailer money - for example, if his contact list includes more than one hundred numbers and it will be problematic to restore it. But the adventures of Peter did not end there. By evening, puzzled friends and acquaintances began to call him. It turned out that the man who stole the “ICQ” went through his contact list. And he sent a message to each addressee with his request to transfer $ 10 by Web-Money. Like, urgently need money. A few people sent money and now they called to find out what happened to the guy.
And sometimes a “hijacker" can send a virus to his victim’s contacts. Therefore, each Internet user needs to remember: if a friend sent via ICQ some link before opening it, call him and ask,
“ We offer homework! ” The
art of cashing in on those who are looking for work, Russian scammers mastered even in pre-Internet times. They simply transferred their simple scheme to the World Wide Web.
“Scammers post ads on the Web that they need typesetters,” says the same Peter. - Wanting to earn some money, I answered several offers. I filled out the questionnaires sent to me and received answers from different addresses with the same (!) Text. "I work in a publishing house. You will need to retype the manuscripts of the authors on a computer. Payment - 26 rubles per page A4. We are ready to send you a trial order - photographs of manuscripts from which you need to type. But first, transfer to us via Yandex. Money "or" Web-money "50 rubles. This will guarantee that you are fulfilling the order." Like, a printing house cannot be scattered with copyright texts - it must answer to customers. I was amused by the fact that there are "printing houses", which, according to the authors of the messages,
“ Mobile for free! ”
Now the most popular two methods of such scams.
The first is used by unscrupulous online stores. They announce on their sites that the start of a cool mobile phone. To participate, you need to buy two discs from them (for example, music), and at the end of the week there will be a raffle among buyers. But to see firsthand the one who won, of course, no one will let you. Although the store’s website will show information in a couple of days that the number of winners this week has increased.
The second way is even simpler: scammers arrange something like an auction. They suggest you send to a specific SMS message number. Naturally, paid. Whoever sends more will get an expensive mobile phone. Messages that are sent to your inbox that you are only a couple of SMS behind the leader will warm up your excitement. As a result, you will spend all the money on your mobile phone, and they will tell you: "You sent 25 messages, and the winner - 26. Try again next time."
IMMEDIATELY RESERVE. Not all of the TYPICAL Internet ads listed above will surely leave you in the cold. But is it worth the risk? To lose 10-20 dollars is, of course, not unprofitable. However, for a fraudster to get $ 10 from twenty of the same as you, is already a good gain.
Who are they - online crooks?
Every day they receive a mountain of advertisements by e-mail, they ask: "Whose hands are these, how do spammers find our addresses and why can no one stop them?" The representative of such a business told about this and many other things to MK. 35-year-old Sergey has been engaged in electronic mailing for several years.
> - How do you find the addresses of our mailboxes?
- On the Internet there are a bunch of databases and directories like yellow pages. There, in addition to the actual addresses and phone numbers of companies, their e-mail is often indicated. Databases for employees of a particular organization are also easy to get. The addresses of personal mailboxes we take from forums, live magazines, etc. When traveling on the Internet, people often have to register somewhere and leave their e-mail.
- You are right: whenever possible, I do not leave my e-mail anywhere, so spam almost does not come to me.
- This is also not an option. It is much more convenient to have one mailbox for personal correspondence, and keep another one for various forums - let anything pour in there.
- Having received the advertisement, some users send an angry letter to the address from which it came. And the answer immediately comes to them: such an address no longer exists.
- Yes, each address is unique, and due to the fact that they are constantly being filtered on the Internet, you have to constantly change the boxes. It used to be simpler, but spammers themselves unwittingly complicated their task. A few years ago, we decided to work in a civilized manner and out of respect for the recipient and designate the letter in the subject line as “Spam” or “Advertising”. But such messages began to be immediately blocked, and they simply did not reach the addressees. We have to act more sophisticated.
- Why do not fighters with advertising mailings stop them in any way?
- Ha! Those who fight with them, for example, authors of antivirus programs that offer mailbox owners to buy antispam from them, are beneficial if this phenomenon exists. As long as there is spam, there will be a demand for anti-programs, and you can release more and more. Therefore, we talk a lot about laws prohibiting spam, but it is unlikely that this will be adopted in the near future. This is not beneficial to anyone.
- Do you post any announcements? Even all sorts of financial pyramids?
- I do not see anything reprehensible in the distribution of such announcements. For the scam is the responsibility of those who offer it. Our business is to fulfill orders. But there are a number of taboos in our midst. For example, no one will ever send out child pornography ads. After all, we ourselves have children. For the same reason, we do not send out fake requests for help to sick children. The person who tries to distribute them will be immediately kicked out of our business. He is blocked by oxygen by everyone with whom he collaborated on the Internet. And the authors of those posts that are still slipping through are more likely random people. Just a few months ago, one spammer tried to do such a “charity”, and although he later justified that a large percentage of his profit was allegedly transferred to charity organizations,
And further. Not so long ago, an interesting page appeared on the Internet: "We offer an encyclopedia of all-all-all known Internet frauds in the world. By reading this book, you can resist crooks and you will never get on their network!". Its authors only ask you to transfer 10 rubles to their electronic wallet, and then you will be shown the path by which you can download it to your computer. So you can try. At least, if this time (God forbid!) Deceived you, this will be the most beautiful scam in the history of the Internet.
WHERE TO CONTACT VICTIMS? /
According to the Center for the Study of Computer Crime, in Russia last year about 14 thousand cybercrimes were recorded. These are mainly false offers of goods and services, services for organizing hacker attacks, scams with electronic payment cards and customer accounts of electronic payment systems. More than 450 such scams were able to stop.
Where to contact if you are a victim of online scams? The question, of course, is interesting ...
“The R management was abolished a few years ago,” MK said in the Moscow police department. - The profile unit remained only in the Ministry of Internal Affairs - department "K". So if you have been hit by hackers, there are two options. The first is to contact the Ministry of Internal Affairs immediately, the second is to write a statement to the nearest ATS. In the latter case, local police will decide for themselves what to do with it: either they will hand over to the district or the same Ministry of Internal Affairs, or they will try to solve the crime themselves.
Why is such a necessary management disbanded at the police department? Law enforcement officers only cautiously notice that the decisions of the authorities are not discussed. It is only known that some of the fighters against hackers from the Moscow administration of "R" then moved to work in other areas - for example, to deal with tax crimes, and some generally went to "civilian".
- The high-tech market is developing at a frantic pace. And, unfortunately, neither law enforcement officers nor lawmakers keep up with him, ”says lawyer Pyotr Dombrovitsky, who had to deal with similar cases. - In such things, law enforcement officers are inert, and you can turn their attention to your case only with the help of an official statement to the police or the prosecutor's office.
a source