Warning! This is how the attackers try to turn you for money. This is how you can protect yourself

We have already informed about fraud on the Bazoš advertising portal. The security company ESET states in a press release that the number of frauds has increased significantly recently.

The police also regularly draw attention to this topic. In recent times, three types of attacks have spread, all with the same goal. Turn the victim over for money. The damage can also be significantly higher than the goods sold. Prudence should come first.

Scenario 1: I pay for the goods through a special service

This type of fraud is likely to pay off. Colleagues from our editorial office have already received similar reports. The attacker pretends to be interested in the offered goods, while the victim informs that he is not in the city as long as the advertiser comes. He wants to solve it with the help of a special courier service.

The attacker informs that he will pay in advance and send the seller a link to fictitious payment or delivery services. Here comes the problem. He claims that the payment has already been sent, but is said to be released only after the seller proves by postal document that he has sent the goods. If the deceived seller sends the goods, he has run into the fraudster because he will not receive any money.

Although the fraudster pretends to speak Slovak, it is mostly a scam that comes from abroad. The more attentive eye will notice this during the initial communication, as it is mostly translated from another language into Slovak and contains a number of stylistic errors.

Scenario 2: Fictitious payment confirmation

Another widespread type of fraud is a scenario in which the attacker does not hide the fact that he comes from abroad. He mostly communicates in English. He tries to convince the seller that he has paid for the goods and sends him a fictitious confirmation. In this case, he allegedly sent through a foreign bank ScotiaBank. The goods were subsequently requested to be delivered to an address in Austria.

Scenario 3: Involvement of malicious code and theft of sensitive data

One of the victims also mentions the use of malicious code. In this case, the attacker sent a link to an unknown page via WhatsApp. After clicking on it, a malicious code was downloaded to the victim’s computer, with the help of which the attacker subsequently stole the passwords and also made a payment via one of the victim’s online payment services. This scenario is reminiscent of bank malware attacks, which have risen by as much as 33% since May.

How to protect yourself:

• When communicating with unknown people, choose the utmost caution and treat the sent lines in the same way.
• Report any policy violations, suspicious advertisements, potential attacker’s phone number to the platform on which they occur.
• If you have any suspicions, try checking Google’s phone number, address, or name to see if a similar case has occurred. Also watch sites such as Hoaxes and Fraud – the Police of the Slovak Republic, which often documents past cases in detail.
• Beware of unknown payment and delivery services. We recommend users to stick to verified providers on the Slovak market. If you want to be sure, you can use the cash on delivery, which the courier will hand over only after payment by the other party.
• Use security software on your computer, as well as your Android smartphone and Android tablet. A reliable security product can block malicious links or downloaded malicious code.