The key facts

  • Fraudsters distribute malicious software disguised as free AI services for hairstyles, makeup, and recipes
  • After installation, the criminals gain remote access to the phone: SMS, banking apps, photos
  • Svischev recommended deleting the app, revoking permissions, changing passwords, and checking one's credit history

A new scheme through popular AI services

A new fraud scheme has emerged in Russia in which criminals disguise malicious programs as harmless apps for choosing a hairstyle, makeup, or cooking recipes. This was told to Gazeta.Ru by State Duma deputy from the LDPR Dmitry Svischev. According to him, more and more people are coming to his constituency meetings who do not understand how they ended up in debt: they downloaded an app to see how they would look with a new hairstyle or found a 'unique recipe' online, and ended up with a program that gave fraudsters full access to their device.

How the scheme works

Svischev explained that free AI services are being actively advertised online, and to use them, users are asked to download an app via a link. Instead of a useful program, malicious software is installed on the phone, after which the fraudsters gain remote access: they can see SMS messages, banking apps, and photos. Then, according to the deputy's description, the 'classic scenario' begins: calls allegedly from a security service, demands to transfer money to a 'safe account,' loans taken out in the victim's name, and in the worst case — blackmail using personal photographs. A similar scheme works with recipes as well: a person searches for how to bake a pie, downloads a file, and it turns out to be spyware. 'Food is associated with comfort and safety, so people let their guard down,' the parliamentarian emphasized.

What Svischev recommends

The deputy recommended immediately deleting the suspicious app and checking what permissions it had requested: if access to SMS, contacts, or banking apps was granted, it should be revoked in the phone's settings. If passwords or card details were entered after installation, they should be changed and the card blocked through the bank, and then, via Gosuslugi or a credit history report from a credit bureau, check whether any loans were taken out. Svischev also urged people not to panic and not to act on the instructions of callers: if told that 'everything is lost' and that money must be transferred urgently, one should hang up and call the bank back at its official number. Separately, he drew attention to elderly people who download 'helpful tips,' 'health recipes,' and 'vision improvement programs,' and advised explaining to them: if something is offered for free and you are asked to download it, that alone is a reason to be alert.

Context

Earlier, as reported in October, fraudsters began deceiving Russians under the guise of 'free' movies and music — the new scheme with AI services continues the same line: using familiar and appealing content to spread malicious programs.