Fraudsters proliferate on online ad platforms

Experts have recorded a surge in fraud on popular ad services. The user, under various pretexts, is forced to transfer the discussion on the order to a third-party platform and there they are convinced of the need to make an advance payment. An increase in the number of such cases of fraud was confirmed to Vedomosti by representatives of Rostelecom Solar (RTK-Solar), CyberSecurity and Group-IB.

Such schemes are not revolutionary, “it can rather be attributed to seasonal fluctuations in this area of ​​​​criminal business,” said Alexander Vurasko, an expert in the direction of special services Solar JSOC RTK-Solar. “Scammers create advertisements for the sale of goods, services, renting an apartment at a very favorable price with a mandatory full or partial prepayment or deposit. After the victim has transferred the money, the attackers stop communicating,” confirms Vladimir Kalugin, Operations Director of the Digital Risk Protection Department at Group-IB.