«You old fool!» Yekaterinburg scammers use new scheme

Scammers have learned to infiltrate building chat groups. Their victim almost became Alena, a Yekaterinburg resident. Residents of a house on Soboleva Street received a message that a new access control system was planned. The intercom itself was promised to be free, and the owners were only asked to send their apartment number and the required number of passes.

When residents sent the information, they were asked to provide a code from an SMS. This way, the scammers extracted the code to log into Gosuslugi (the Russian government services portal). Alena also dictated the code, but quickly realized she had made a mistake. The scammers began to threaten her.

«You old fool, transfer it to yourself! That was the Gosuslugi code. I«m already downloading your documents, expect a message from the bank about money transfers and loans. Get ready to sell your apartment,» — wrote the scammer.

The pensioner immediately called her daughter, who came and convinced her to go to the MFC (Multifunctional Center). There, on the same day, she regained access to her account. The scammers simply changed the password but couldn«t do anything – no money transfers or loans. In the end, it ended well, and the woman lost nothing.

The Yekaterinburg police noted that scammers constantly change their methods of deceiving citizens. But despite the sophistication of the fraudsters, you can protect yourself by knowing a few simple rules:

Do not talk to strangers on the phone.

Do not disclose any personal data or codes.

Do not transfer or hand over money.

Double-check all information you receive over the phone in person.

Another scam scheme involves «meter replacement». Earlier, we reported how Yekaterinburg women have been robbed on dating sites.

Read which phrases can immediately tell you you«re talking to a scammer.