The key facts
- A multi-stage scheme: a call 'from the polyclinic' asking the victim to dictate their SNILS number, followed by a call from a fake law-enforcement officer
- The victim is told that a 'Ukrainian citizen' will use their data via a power of attorney, and is urged to urgently cash out their accounts
- The victim hands the money in person to an 'authorized officer,' after which the scammers stop all contact
A two-stage scam targeting pensioners
Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs has described a new multi-stage scheme for stealing savings from elderly people, TASS reviewed the materials on this. First, an unknown caller contacts a pensioner claiming to be from a polyclinic: they say a fluorography examination is needed and offer to also receive medications for free. To 'process the service,' the caller asks the victim to dictate their SNILS number or other personal details.
The fake law-enforcement officer and the 'power of attorney for a Ukrainian citizen'
Some time later, a second participant in the scheme calls the victim, posing as an FSB officer, a military prosecutor's office employee, or a member of another law-enforcement agency. He claims that the pensioner's personal data has fallen into the hands of criminals who are allegedly drawing up a power of attorney for a Ukrainian citizen, who would gain the right to manage the elderly person's money.
How the scheme ends
The scammers then report that bank transfers are being prepared and urge the victim to urgently save their savings: withdraw all funds from their accounts and hand the cash to a person described as an authorized officer. The victim withdraws the savings themselves and gives them to the accomplices, after which all contact stops. The Ministry of Internal Affairs notes that the scheme is built on gradually establishing trust followed by intimidating the victim.
Context: malicious apps targeting motorists
Separately, Life.ru recalls another activity of attackers: according to specialists at the company F6, they are distributing a malicious program ZloyRAT disguised as the 'DPS Radar. Fuel Online' app for finding traffic cameras, traffic police patrols, and gas stations. Links to the installation files are posted mainly in driver communities and chats. Once installed on an Android smartphone, a trojan is downloaded with access to messages, contacts, and notifications; the program can also make calls, send SMS, and execute USSD commands without the owner's knowledge.
