August 18, 2021

Teach a Man to Phish


Teach a Man to Phish

“Don't believe it, don't click it, don't pay!”

– Sergey Volodkhin, director of the Russian company “Antiphishing”

Russian citizens are currently being tempted with a tantalizing online money raffling scheme. On August 16, Volodkhin explained the mechanics of the “new” scam that allegedly takes place on instant messengers that uses greed as psychological bait.

“This scheme of deception can hardly be called new, because all the characteristic elements are traced in it: the appeal of unprecedented generosity in the form of gift-giving, a small commission compared to the amount of the prize, and an additional condition for receiving money - entering the full payment data of the card.”

Volodkhin explains that there is a catch even for those who are skeptical of the prize. How many of us are immune to a little “what if” thinking?

After engaging with a message, a user is directed to a phishing site, where a prize for the “messenger promotion” is listed as one million dollars. The victim is allowed to choose any application to find out the size of the prize, which ranges from 10 to 5000 dollars. The next step is to a chat with the “administrator,” where he learns that he is one of 100 “happy” users who is eligible for several thousand dollars of additional prizes. The "bank operator" then warns that the transfer of currency between residents within the country is prohibited, and the winnings must be converted into rubles and the victim must pay a small commission of several hundred rubles. He is then asked for all sensitive information on his bank card, which can also be used to withdraw all money from the victim’s account.

Be careful – with the onslaught of coronavirus QR code requirements, you might be subjected to other, more subtle scams, too...

 

You Might Also Like

The Russian Art of the Con
  • July 01, 2002

The Russian Art of the Con

A look at the art of cheating in Russia today--what are the newest cons and who is falling prey to them?
Taxis, Guns, and Scams
  • December 31, 2020

Taxis, Guns, and Scams

This week, we mark the end of 2020 with transportation stats, social media monitoring, and preparations for wild celebrations.
Criminal QR-Codes
  • August 12, 2020

Criminal QR-Codes

Be careful what QR-codes you scan in Russia, you may be opening yourself up to fraud.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
How Russia Got That Way

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955