Russians were warned about a new scam scheme in instant messengers

Cyber ​​fraudsters have become many times more likely to attack victims using the accounts of top managers

From October 2023 to January 2024, the number of messages from scammers to company employees on behalf of managers increased 10-15 times. About this publication RBC said the head of the company’s information security department, Alexey Korobchenko.

He said that scammers contact company employees on behalf of a fake account of the head of the organization. Scammers send false orders from the FSB or the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and also warn about an imminent call from these departments. The scammers also introduce themselves as employees of the Central Bank and ask for help in apprehending criminals from a credit institution. Another way: the top manager allegedly corresponds with the company’s accountant, from whom money is extorted under various pretexts.

In such schemes, attackers use one phone number but change the account identity. They can attack about 40 company employees in an hour.

At the beginning of 2024, scammers found a different approach to their victims. The victim receives a call from a colleague or company management and then hangs up. Then he receives a message about a bad connection, and then a generated voice message asking him to borrow money.