Malicious personalities deceive their potential victims by posing as employees of a bank or law enforcement agencies. They argue that the client’s savings are at risk and need urgent protection. When refused, these “workers” become more assertive and threaten to turn to relatives to convince them of the seriousness of the situation. The scammers then contact the relatives of the potential victim – parents, spouse or children, trying to convince them of the reality of the threat and urging them to influence their relative in order to “protect” him or his family’s savings. About this scheme told VTB Bank .

In the process of communication, scammers actively use social engineering methods, including such familiar topics as applying for a loan, suspicious transactions with bank cards and accounts, changing the contact number at the bank, and transferring funds to a “safe” account. Almost 90% of all attacks today include elements of social engineering.

“Scammers successfully use psychological techniques to manipulate the emotions of their victims. If earlier they called on behalf of family members, reporting an accident and the need to transfer money, now they are actively using the contacts of relatives. As a result, entire families become victims of threats and extortion. Such an aggressive psychological pressure can lead to serious losses, as the entire family economy is at risk. Therefore, it is important not only to follow the rules of financial security, but also to discuss them with loved ones and stay in touch with the bank to verify such information, “said Nikita Chugunov, Senior Vice President VTB, Head of Digital Business Department.

According to VTB, in January-April, more than 2.7 million fraudulent attacks were made on bank customers, which is 70% more than in the same period last year. The bank was able to prevent the loss of more than 6.3 billion rubles in customer accounts, which is 70% more than last year.

Simple security rules will help protect your savings and avoid scammers: do not trust strangers, carefully read SMS from the bank and do not install unverified applications on your devices at the request of third parties.