What messages should be immediately deleted from personal correspondence

Cybersecurity experts warn that phone scammers have become interested in Russian accounts in Yandex and VK and have developed a scheme to gain access to them. How not to fall for the bait of scammers, and also why it is better to immediately delete pictures and scans of passports, bank cards and other confidential information from social networks and instant messengers, Moskovskaya Pravda found out.

The new interest of scammers is explained by the fact that by gaining access to a person’s account in Yandex or VK, you can not only see personal correspondence, but also take possession of passwords or bank card data stored in the system. The scheme of phone scammers who want to gain access to user accounts is quite simple, RIA Novosti reports, citing information from cybersecurity company Angara Security. First, the victim receives a code to restore access to the account. Then the scammers call or write with the legend that your phone number matches the number of the person whose page access needs to be restored.

Of course, young people are unlikely to be led to such a “divorce”, but the older generation is completely.

Cybersecurity experts once again remind you: do not tell anyone or send access codes and other information that scammers can use for personal gain.

By the way, in personal correspondence, Internet robbers can find not only the numbers and CVC codes of your bank cards, but also passwords to them. And also – photos or data of your passport, for example. Remember, it happened that a spouse or child, having taken your card to the store, forgot the PIN code, and you sent it in a message. Or send a photo of the first page of the passport to a friend who bought tickets for a joint trip. How often did you immediately (or at least after a few days) delete these messages and photos? What about the person you sent it to? Didn’t delete it at all? So, you are a potential client of cyber scammers.

You need to delete confidential information from instant messengers and social networks immediately. And both the sender and the recipient. Especially if it is stored in a smartphone.

– Be sure to remove from the device all information about passwords and personal data, as well as messages that contain negative information for the reputation of the owner of the phone or his family members. You can’t store temporary passwords, authorization codes and service messages in messages, – this is the advice of Arseniy Shcheltsin, General Director of ANO Digital Platforms publishes Infosmi.

It is safer to store such information if you want to have it electronically, on a desktop computer or in cloud storage.

“If there is a need to store such information, then there are two ideal options – either a strong anti-virus program, or cloud storage with two-factor authorization, using a password and a code from a mobile phone number,” says Pavel Utkin, Leading Lawyer of Parthenon United Legal Center. – In principle, all known cloud storages, both Russian and foreign, now provide such opportunities.

Given the current geopolitical situation, the expert advises to opt for proven Russian resources.

“The choice here is quite decent, and cybersecurity specialists in such companies are definitely the best in the country, because there, in the absence of problems with hacking, they are tritely paid more than in the civil service or in government agencies,” explains Pavel Utkin. – Therefore, I repeat, the recipe will be simple – install good paid antiviruses and forward the necessary information to cloud storages, simultaneously setting up two-factor identification both for the authorization in the “cloud” itself, and for social networks and instant messengers.

A smartphone, on the other hand, is an unreliable storage for personal data. Even if it requires a fingerprint to unlock it. By the way, according to Group-IB specialist in digital forensics Igor Mikhailov, a complex password will protect the data stored in the gadget, more secure than a fingerprint or even face identification.

“A fingerprint can be copied (for example, from a glass cup) and reproduced on a polymer base. Or the owner can be forced to unlock the smartphone by placing a finger, using force or psychological pressure, ” quotes words of a specialist agency “Prime”.

But even a super complex password will not help if cyber scammers get to your account. So the surest way to protect your personal data is not to store it in places that are relatively accessible to unauthorized persons, one of which, undoubtedly, is the Internet space.

Alena Bodrienko.

Photo by mobile reporter / Moskva Agency