THE EXPERT TOLD HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM SCAMMERS

Every day law enforcement officers reveal the next new fraud schemes: both on the Internet and by phone. Yaroslav Bajurak, executive director of the <url> financial marketplace, reminded how to behave online so as not to fall into the hands of intruders.

One of the frequent sources of citizens' data leakage is the specified information for food delivery services and online stores. Companies may be subject to hacker attacks, as a result of which information may be publicly available. Also, the expert reminds, a leak can occur due to the negligence of the user himself — downloading any unsafe file on the Internet can lead to the fact that the data stored on certain sites may become available to attackers.

"Therefore, when choosing a payment method in your favorite store or delivery, you should not tick the "remember payment method" box. If you don't want to re-enter the data every time, it's better to just use the SBP or, for example, the SBR ID," Yaroslav Bajurak told Rusbankrot.

At the same time, according to him, it is important to take into account that half of the fraudulent actions are social engineering, and not theft, exclusively using data that got on the Internet. Last year, according to the Central Bank, the share of such embezzlement amounted to 50.4%.

By refusing to publish information about yourself on the Internet and not storing data about yourself in stores and delivery services, you reduce the chance that a fraudster will be able to gain your trust. However, this does not provide one hundred percent protection.

"In order not to become a victim of fraudsters, you need to remain vigilant — do not pay for purchases on suspicious sites, do not communicate with buyers and sellers from bulletin boards outside of these bulletin boards, do not report data about yourself when calling, no matter how convincing the interlocutor is," the expert stressed.

At the same time, he placed an important emphasis on vigilance when calling from strangers, potential scammers. Users on the Internet often leave a lot of data about themselves. For example, last name, first name, date of birth, place of study and work, contact phone number — this information is often indicated in everyone's social networks. Many also share their geolocations.

"Fraudsters can find phone numbers, including on ad placement and job search services — the victims themselves publish this data so that the buyer or employer can contact them. These data are not enough to steal money from the account, however, having them, the fraudster will be able to get in touch with you and try to lure out more sensitive data," Bajurak said.

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