The expert explained whether scammers have “black lists” of victims

The term Internet fraudster in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is understood as a person who has committed a crime in the economic sphere, directed against someone else’s property. The offender steals or appropriates property and rights to property that do not belong to him, abuse of trust or deception (deliberately distorting the truth or keeping silent about it).

In financial fraud on the Internet, illegal enrichment is committed in the sphere of money circulation through deception and manipulation.

Article 159.6. Computer Fraud

Article 159.6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and comments to it contain provisions regarding the concept of fraudulent actions in the field of computer information. This type is distinguished by the method of fraud - through any intervention in both information and telecommunication networks and individual computer facilities that store, process or transmit data. This may include entering or deleting information, modifying it, blocking it, or other types of intervention.

Article 159.6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

At the same time, there are disputes among specialists in the field of criminal law, since classic fraud involves deception and abuse of trust in direct contact between persons, while theft in the computer sphere involves access to media and is mediated by software.

What should the victim do?

If you have become a victim of scammers, do not despair, but be prepared to take competent actions to bring criminals to justice.

There is an idea that identifying scammers online is unrealistic. This makes the consumer helpless in the face of criminals and leaves them alone with the problem.

In light of this, awareness and adherence to the algorithm of actions is necessary.

When the fraud is associated with an online store, the victim must first file a complaint with the seller using any valid contact information (legal address, email, telephone, etc.). The letter should describe the nature of the illegal actions and present a demand to replace the product or return the amount paid for it. amount. If you ignore the seller’s request, you must contact law enforcement.

Immediately contact the police or prosecutor's office with a complaint. For this purpose, a statement is drawn up. Visit to the territorial office of the state service for the protection of consumer rights.

Blocking the wallets of deceivers. For this purpose, contact the bank or the administration of the electronic payment system - ask for the return of money that was “erroneously” left or for blocking the fraudster’s transactions (you can talk from the perspective of possible charges of negligence);

Contact your provider to block the criminals' resource. The appeal should be to the operator's obligation to monitor Internet use in accordance with legal requirements.

Is it possible to block a scammer?

The only way to block a scammer is to send a complaint to the VK technical support service. Messages about spam, slander, fraud, and distribution of prohibited materials are received here.

To punish a fraudster, the complaint must be drawn up correctly. To do this, we describe the situation in detail and attach evidence to the letter (screenshots, details of the scammer, etc.). Collective complaints work best, so it is advisable for victims of mass fraud to act together.

The more complaints a particular user or group receives, the greater the likelihood that the page will be blocked. After checking the information, the VK administration sends notifications to the applicants about the decision made. The period for consideration of a complaint is no more than 30 days.

How to file a complaint

To file a complaint you should follow the following procedure:

1. Go to the "Help" section.
2. There will be several options for submitting an appeal. Select the item “None fits.”
3. Click “Next” and select “Ask a question.”
4. Next you need to describe in detail what happened. Insert a link to a profile or group and attach evidence.
5. We indicate the requirement: blocking, deleting a group, etc.

Evidence of a violation does not guarantee that an account will be blocked. If VK employees do not identify illegal actions on the part of the user, the request will be denied. In addition to contacting technical support, you should file a statement with the police or prosecutor's office.

Possible evidence

Before contacting the authorities to protect your rights, you must take care of collecting evidence of the crime:

• documents confirming the financial transaction - this can be a receipt from the payment system or bank that carried out the transaction;
• invoices and other confirmations from the postal or courier service about delivery using the cash on delivery system;
• audio/video recordings of conversations with scammers on the phone, Skype, etc.

They also provide screenshots of information about scammers - statutory documents of the legal entity, their invoices, passports and identification codes, bank details, etc.

What is indicated in an appeal to law enforcement agencies?

To punish the criminal, the victim with a passport submits an application to the local police department (including the regional specialized unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for combating Internet crimes) as soon as possible. This is necessary to prevent covering up traces of fraud: getting rid of the SIM card and bank card, deleting information on the Internet.

The appeal is made in free form, indicating the details - yours and the recipient, the essence (describe the situation with as much detailed information as possible, indicating the address of the resource, details - account, e-wallet numbers, e-mail, etc.), a link to the article . 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a list of attachments (evidence).

At the end, they confirm their awareness of liability for providing false testimony, put a date and signature.

Scammer phone numbers blacklist

Telephone scams are becoming more common. The blacklists of phone numbers of scammers on the Internet are constantly being updated with new numbers, and attackers are inventing more and more complex scams. All of them are aimed at seizing other people's money or confidential information. Unfortunately, most cases of telephone fraud remain unsolved, since it is easy for attackers to change their phone number. Most often, scam numbers turn out to be registered to non-existent people or organizations.

Of course, modern technical means make it possible to quite accurately track the place where an SMS was sent or a call was made. Therefore, most scams are committed in crowded places, where it can be very difficult to find the criminal. Often calls from attackers are recorded several thousand kilometers from the location of the victim, and even in other countries. In order to avoid becoming a victim of telephone scams, you must observe the following rules of caution.

• You never need to top up the balance of unknown numbers, even if the message came on behalf of a friend or relative;
• If there are any doubts about the information specified in the message, you must double-check it carefully, even if the sender of the SMS is a bank or mobile operator. Using special programs, scammers can indicate any sender name;
• Before calling back to an unfamiliar number, you need to check if it is on blacklists. There are many sites on the Internet containing such information. As a rule, to check it is enough to simply enter the number in the search field of any search engine;
• You should not give your personal information to an unfamiliar interlocutor: address, passport details, bank card number, etc.;
• If the caller introduced himself as a bank employee, it is advisable to ask him several clarifying questions, for example, the address of the branch or contact telephone number;
• You should not agree to requests from strangers to obtain a SIM card (a fraudster may say that he has lost his passport and urgently needs to obtain a SIM card);
• Under no circumstances should you give your SIM card to strangers for use;
• If fraud is detected, you must immediately contact law enforcement agencies and your mobile operator.

Types and methods of Internet fraud

There are several main types of Internet fraud that network users most often encounter.

Online stores

The operation of this method is simple: a person browses different sites in search of the desired product until he comes across an extremely tempting offer in the form of an impressive discount on an exclusive product. Designer clothing and branded household appliances are often put up for deceptive “sale.” After the user has added an item to the cart, the seller requires an advance payment for the product as a deposit. When the required amount is sent, the buyer simply disappears along with the advance payment, leaving no opportunity for feedback.

Online store fraud

Another option for this method is selling cheap, low-quality crafts. After receiving the goods, the buyer again loses the opportunity to contact the seller to return the purchase.

Phishing

It is a less overt form of online fraud. Operating principle: an inexperienced user gives scammers his payment card details. Phishing has several other subtypes. So, the user can receive a letter from the bank or system in which his electronic wallet was registered. The message provides information about changes in the conditions of the payment system, and in order to familiarize yourself with the new rules, you are asked to follow the link specified in the letter. Unsuspectingly, a person ends up on a fake domain, where he is asked to provide payment card details to confirm that he has familiarized himself with the “innovations.” After this, the scammers gain full access to the victim’s bank account.

Begging

This method of Internet deception is based on knowledge of psychology. By pressing on the right points and weak points, scammers literally force the client to voluntarily share his money. Such extortion has a clearly planned and thought-out scheme: on social networks or on individual websites, scammers place an advertisement asking for help for a sick child. Payment details are also indicated there with manipulation text (“as much as you don’t mind”, “any penny can save a person’s life”, etc.) So, kind-hearted users transfer this or that amount of money, sometimes quite significant, to the scammer’s account.

Dating websites

They are another area where online criminals live. Often the victims of such fraud are young girls, as well as wealthy men. In 2013, this method of deception became the second most widespread and profitable. In addition, it is quite difficult to punish marriage swindlers. The target audience of such scammers lives abroad and does not have the opportunity to personally meet the selected candidates. Marriage fraud differs in the length of time during which the client is cheated out of money. Having gained the user's trust, the swindler, on behalf of another person, begins to complain about financial difficulties and unobtrusively tries to ask for help from the unsuspecting victim of the deception. After this, the scammer often immediately disappears, deleting the account on the dating site without the possibility of further communication.

Computer viruses

Several years ago, this method of fraud was one of the most common on the Internet; now only inexperienced network users fall for it. To obtain the necessary information, scammers publish on websites various “baits” with flashy headlines: losing weight in one day, scandalous news about celebrities, recipes for conspiracies to attract money, etc.

Computer viruses

To receive the promised information, a person needs to click on the link provided and go to the website, where he needs to provide a phone number, as well as the username and password for logging into the social network account. In the first case, the balance on the specified number will be completely reset, and in the second, access to the account with all information will be lost.

Offers for remote work

Another common method of Internet deception is offers for remote work, which can increasingly be found on user websites, as well as in comments on popular pages on social networks. Along with false working conditions, a person is given one more condition: he must transfer a certain amount to the employer’s account as insurance. They promise to return the money immediately after completing the verification task. However, after receiving the funds, the fake employer immediately disappears and never gets in touch again.

Microcredit based on passport photo

It all started with a classic story. Friends started writing to David, asking if they really needed money.

It turned out that his wife’s VKontakte had been hacked. My wife reset and changed her password on VKontakte, but here’s a surprise: when you log into your account, the page consistently crashes and logs out after 5-10 seconds.

The man suggested that the scammer connects some kind of bot to the page, which breaks all sessions except the fraudulent one.

To stop the mailing bacchanalia, we asked friends to report spam. After about 20 minutes the page was blocked, and we exhaled. In vain.

This did not end there - a second attempt to lure money began. From an unknown page, a man began writing to David’s friends with a story that he had found his wife’s passport.

To be convincing, he attached a passport photo to the messages, which, apparently, the fraudster found on his personal page. The fraudster also persistently began to find out the woman’s place of work in order to allegedly bring the document there.

After some time, this friend writes to me in a personal message, nervously asking where his wife works, giving several confusing explanations as to why he needs this. Of course, he receives no answer. Yeah, that means now he’s trying to apply for a microloan by sending a photo of his passport and indicating his wife’s personal information. Here we tensed up. The likelihood that something will be approved without proof of identity is, of course, minimal, but you really can’t count on the integrity of these offices.

To be on the safe side, the couple consulted the police and filed a report of attempted fraud. Such actions are necessary if the loan does surface and you need a basis to challenge it in court. In addition, for safety, David sent out a dozen letters to loan offices, warning about the situation. But this story did not end there either. The scammer still managed to get the money.

Amount of damage

Based on the amount of damage caused, theft, depending on the degree of severity expressed in financial equivalent, theft is divided into small, large and especially large:

• small - up to 1,000 rubles.
• with minor damage - 1,000 - 2,500 rubles.
• significant - from 2,500 to 250 thousand rubles.
• large - 250 thousand - 1 million rubles. (Note 4 to Article 158 of the Criminal Code)
• especially large - from 1 million rubles.

Minor crimes are classified as administrative; liability for them is regulated by the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, with the exception of cases of harm to the health of the victim. Large and especially large ones are considered criminal offenses.

How realistic is it to bring fraudsters to justice?

Deception and misappropriation of funds, which are signs of the crime of Internet fraud, also determine criminal punishment under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. However, due to the latency of the newest type of illegal actions, it becomes difficult to investigate and disclose them.

Lack of personal contact with the victim, lack of documents, impersonal information, which is also easy to destroy - all these features prevent the identification of the offender and lead to the suspension of criminal cases. This leads to a small number of recorded precedents: netizens doubt the reality of punishment, and therefore do not contact the police. On the other hand, it is the silence of deceived people that contributes to impunity and the growth of crime in this area.

What to do if you become a victim of scammers

The VKontakte administration takes the position that they provide users with a platform for communication and making transactions. But the administration of the social network is not responsible for the fact that you transfer money to an unverified person. If you voluntarily send funds to scammers, contact the police, court or Rospotrebnadzor. These authorities are empowered to investigate such cases. The VKontakte social network will help you find scammers and block groups or personal pages of scammers.

But as practice shows, even law enforcement agencies are not able to resolve the issue fully. The complaint against the scammers remains unanswered, no one solves the problem and the lost money is not returned. Tracking scams on the Internet is not so easy. And the smaller the transaction amount, the more unlikely it is that it will be returned to the owner.

The only thing you can do is file a complaint on VKontakte. Please include fraud in the reasons. The scammer's page will be deleted without the possibility of recovery. But keep in mind that this may not stop the deceiver. Nothing will stop him from creating a new page and continuing his illegal activities. The social network will not investigate the case and look for the person behind all the fraudulent operations. And return your money too. Be careful before paying for a product or service in online stores.

Trust only verified and reliable users. Remember that even reviews can be custom-made, just like words of praise on forums. If you are really interested in a product, place several orders for minimum amounts and check how delivery works, service and what you get in the end.

On VKontakte you can find communities in which victims of fraud or whistleblowers publish links to the pages of scammers so that other users do not fall for such deception. Use these groups if you are not sure of the integrity of the person behind the page.

Under what articles are those who commit crimes in the IT sector judged?

In addition to Art. 159.6, criminal punishment for IT fraud may be determined by other articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Hackers caught trying to steal users' personal data, hacking websites, personal PC databases and computer networks are punished under Art. 272 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Responsibility for fraud on the Internet under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Programmers who write viruses, crackers and amateurs who generate blocking viruses based on ready-made programs are liable in accordance with Art. 274 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Punishment for organizing DDoS attacks is also provided for in Article 274.

By nature, criminal actions can be qualified under other parts of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

• 1, 2 - in the field of lending, payments of subsidies and benefits;
• 3 - for fraud on the Internet with money: this applies to electronic payments using bank cards, virtual wallets, transfers, transactions with cryptocurrency, etc.;
• 4, 5 - in the field of insurance and entrepreneurship.

Under what articles the crime will be classified will be determined first by the investigation and then by the court. Due to the complexity and ambiguity of the classification of crimes in the field of computer technology, a sentence may be imposed on several articles at once.

What to do and where to complain?

In case of fraud on the Internet, regardless of the resource (OK, VKontakte, FB and other social networks), you should complain about the fraud to law enforcement agencies. The amount and magnitude of the deception does not matter, since the total number of victims of criminal acts can reach a million users, which implies serious punishment under Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

In the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the department for working with crime on the Internet is called “K”, where your appeal will be redirected in case of deception on social networks or on any website. The complaint or statement must provide reliable information about the case:

• scammer’s address - VK page, contact details (if any);
• name/nickname of the criminal;
• details by which the payment was made;
• phone number for SMS fraud;
• email and other evidence.

If the transfer was made to an electronic wallet, you can contact the support service of this payment system. This will help block the fraudster’s account and obtain his personal contact information, which will make it easy to file a lawsuit. You can also file a complaint against computer scammers with Rospotrebnadzor directly on the company’s website.

Punishment

In case of fraud on VKontakte and other Internet resources, the legislation provides for liability under the following articles:

• Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - preventive measures depend on the amount of damage and the number of accomplices - up to 10 years in prison;
• Art. 159.6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - theft of passwords, introduction of a virus, hacking of VK pages, etc., is punishable by a fine of up to 1 million rubles; forced labor for up to 5 years; imprisonment for up to 6 years (depending on the number of perpetrators in one case);
• fraud with bank cards - Art. 159.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the act is subject to a fine, forced labor, restriction or imprisonment for up to 6 years (in case of abuse of official position);
• fraud in receiving payments, including maternity capital - Art. 159.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, may be punishable by imprisonment for up to 10 years.

You can find out what to do if you have become a victim of scammers on the popular social network VKontakte from our experienced lawyers by calling or leaving your question online.

Time limit for criminal prosecution

For damage associated with interference with the operation of computer and telecommunication networks, the offender faces the following punishment:

from a fine of up to 120 thousand rubles / the amount of the criminal’s annual income - up to arrest for 4 months.

If there was a group conspiracy that led to significant damage, then you will have to bear liability from 300 thousand rubles. maximum fine/2-year income - up to a year's restriction of freedom.

For damage caused on a large scale - a fine of half a million rubles / the amount of 3 years' income - up to 6 years of imprisonment; in especially large ones - from 1 million rubles. - up to 10 years of imprisonment.

Attempted fraud - is there a penalty?

If a crime does not take place and there is evidence of an attempt, the criminal will face criminal prosecution.

Art. 29 and 30 part 3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation classifies as attempted a crime committed by a subject (deliberate actions or inaction), which was not completed due to circumstances that did not depend on this person. This may also be a situation where a planned crime is stopped by law enforcement officers.

Criminal liability is determined by the third part of Art. 66, taking into account the circumstances determining the reason for the incompleteness of the crime in the period and amount of punishment not exceeding 3/4 of the maximum provided for in Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (relative to the completed crime).

Thus, the punishment for fraudulent actions in large amounts (more than 250 thousand rubles) will be from 375 thousand rubles. fine up to 4 years in prison, and in especially large amounts - up to 8 years in prison

Deception through message boards

Both the buyer and the seller can face deception through ad sites. The most common “divorce” scheme at present is:

• the buyer contacts the author of the advertisement that interests him;
• After prepayment for the goods, the seller delays and then disappears without a trace.

Fraudsters operating on the most visited ad portal, Avito, have learned to bypass the “Safe Transaction” - a special option designed to increase the security of resource users. An example is this popular scheme:

1. The seller places an offer, which usually has a low price.
2. A person who decides to purchase this product contacts the owner of the lot, negotiates a purchase with help and informs him of the most preferred delivery method.
3. The buyer transfers money for the goods, after which the funds are reserved on Avito.
4. Then the seller turns to the buyer for a contact number to clarify the details of the transaction or make a preliminary call before the meeting (if both are in the same city).

After this, the buyer receives an SMS from an unfamiliar subscriber, in which the scammer introduces himself as an employee of the avito.ru website, specifies delivery details, notifies about the cashback amount and asks to confirm the application using a short code, which he will now send in an SMS. The client receives a real notification from the service and gives the code to the scammer. The attacker, having lured the code, logs into the service from the buyer’s account, then displays information in his own profile that he has transferred the goods to the buyer. Thus, the deceiver receives money without the protection guaranteed by the “Safe Deal”.

To avoid the risk of encountering such scammers, it is not recommended to share codes or disclose confidential information to third parties. You should not post your phone numbers publicly on message boards and aggregator sites that collect data.

Fraud by prior agreement

According to the norms of criminal law, criminal actions involving a group of persons pose an increased danger to society. This form presupposes the preliminary organization of a crime with the distribution of responsibilities. The increased danger of this type of criminal act is also associated with difficulties in detecting and disclosing illegal actions.

At the same time, a distinction is made between the concepts of an organized group and a preliminary group conspiracy. The first is defined by the Criminal Code as a pre-organized community created only for the purpose of committing a specific crime (or series of crimes). However, a preliminary conspiracy does not always indicate a stable organization in which there will be a permanent leader who inspires planned crimes and distributes roles and responsibilities. The highest form of such an organization is a gang - a stable association of individuals with close ties, clear tasks and complete coordination of criminal actions.

The investigation of fraud by prior conspiracy requires a careful approach to the study of materials - due to the increased complexity of organizing the crime and the high social danger.

Arbitrage practice

The archive of judicial practice is gradually replenished with solved crimes, the difficulty of investigating which lies, first of all, in the constant improvement of IT technologies and fraudulent schemes, respectively. Certain problems are associated with the qualification of such criminal actions aimed at theft of funds.

Arbitrage practice

For example, in one of the cases that was heard in one of the Russian courts, under the pretext of checking the operation of Internet banking, citizen B provided his bank card to citizen A. The latter later used secret information to seize funds from the card in the amount of $15,000 USA.

Initially, the crime was classified under Articles 158.2 and 159.2 as theft.

However, the cassation court determined the presence of a special personnel in such acts, including the acquisition of computer information and its use for criminal purposes, and therefore the case was reclassified under Part 6 of Article 159.

How to avoid becoming a victim of scammers

Statistics show the dynamics of growth in fraudulent activities related to cybercrime.

In this regard, it is necessary to adhere to some simple recommendations:

1. Never give your personal information to anyone. Data must be entered only on official and verified resources.
2. If a user has a virtual card on any service, it needs to be topped up with small amounts, which it is advisable to spend immediately: this way, scammers will not fix the account balance.
3. Enter payment information only on sites with the Secure Sockets Layer security protocol, which ensures a secure connection between the user and the server. To check this fact, you should pay attention to the domain address: it must begin with the combination https:// (and not with “https://”). There should also be a padlock icon in the address bar.

By following these simple rules, you can protect yourself from attacks by Internet scammers and keep your payment systems and funds intact.

How to avoid falling for scammers: tips

There are many beautiful and tempting offers on the Internet. Here's a loan with record low interest rates, here's an opportunity to earn $1,000 or $5,000, so you've won. How to identify scammers among an ocean of advertising and colorful banners?

Types of scammers:

• “left” stores;
• “lotteries are a scam”;
• questionnaires;
• mailing “chain letters”;
• tempting job;
• fly-by-night investments.

General tips:

1. Why is a phone that usually costs 30,000 suddenly offered for 5,000?
2. Where do they pay $1000 daily for simple, obscure actions?
3. When did everyone start paying 1,500 rubles for the questionnaire?
4. Always check the information. It’s simple - write the name of the store or website in a search engine and add “reviews”, a forum or information site about this “supplier” will immediately appear.
5. When the seller is a social network (for example, a VK group), it is better to contact several subscribers of this group and ask them.
6. When did “good people” decide to give phones worth 10-50 thousand rubles for nothing?
7. You should not agree to make an advance payment, especially if you have doubts about the quality and legality of the store.
8. Always check feedback. Some scammers “disable” the ability to leave reviews.
9. Any store must have a confirmed status as a legal entity.

Important: as soon as the mention “pay 240 (120, 50) rubles for transfer/sending/opening an account/currency exchange” comes out, these are 100% scammers!

The main advice is to forget about the possibility of getting fabulously rich, getting a lottery if you didn’t participate initially, or an inheritance. Fraudsters always play on a person’s desire to get a freebie. They promise cheap goods, exclusive items or a “winning scheme”.

In fact, they themselves want to make money when naive people start paying.

Many people get caught when they are looking for a job online, because it is a huge market, thousands of opportunities. Is it really impossible to earn money? It’s possible, but there is no scheme that will give you thousands of rubles without strain. It's time to accept this and look for real deals.

Important: if you have any doubts regarding the seller, you can use a special service: “check yourself and the counterparty”, it allows you to quickly identify one-day fraudulent companies.