How do scammers rob trading platforms? part 1
In touch rotenbergand today we will talk about scams (from the word scam – to cheat).
Who are scammers and why are they causing great harm to ordinary citizens at the moment?
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Who is a scammer, why is he called that and who is this SCAM of yours?
Scam is a type of deception or fraud that is especially common on the Internet, and Scammer – a fraudster whose main idea is to defraud gullible citizens of money.
First, let's look at the statistics of the most popular trading platform in the Russian Federation. At the time of writing this article, more than 150 million advertisements have been published on this site, which exceeds the population of Russia. At the same time, we do not take into account smaller trading platforms, forums, websites, VK groups, and so on.
The most important thing for a scammer is that the more gullible citizens there are, the better.
But how do scammers make money in 2024, if many people already know about this type of fraud?
According to statistics for 2020, about 0.8-1.0 billion rubles were stolen.
https://www.forbes.ru/newsroom/finansy-i-investicii/413309-eksperty-ocenili-obem-moshennichestva-za-god-na-servisah
As of 2024, the situation has improved, but has not been eradicated. Fraudsters are coming up with new ways to cheat. Using various links and phishing sites, they ingratiate themselves into the trust of ordinary citizens.
Old schemes don't work.
Previously, scammers registered accounts on Avito and similar sites that were purchased on shadow forums. Under the guise of an honest seller, they offered their brand new iPhone or bicycle for sale at 15-20% below the market value. A lot of people responded to the good price; many of them understood that free cheese only comes in a mousetrap, but not everyone thought so.
And then the scammer finds the first trusting person. The conversation is conducted quite quickly: a brief description of the product, high-quality photos and videos. The scammer, as a rule, throws everything away at once, even if the client does not ask for it. The fact is that the fraudster communicates with hundreds of citizens a day, and for such a case he simply has scripts prepared to minimize the time spent answering all questions.
During a prolonged dialogue with the “buyer,” the fraudster will play on emotions in every possible way in order to force the gullible citizen to agree to such a deal, arguing that the product is in great demand and is “about” to be taken away. At this moment the fun begins. The scammer offers to send an advance payment to the card or even pay the full price in order to reserve this product for the buyer. The buyer may have questions about security, but by logging into his account on Avito, these questions disappear.
There are a lot of deals there and they all have 5 stars. This means you can trust.
This is what the scammer takes advantage of, because the account is purchased.
The scammer also has a video of the product ready, just in case, to prove that the product itself really exists.
In general, a fraudster has many ways to justify his actions. He can show a purchase transaction on some website or send a real receipt (of course, not without some Photoshop tricks).
Also, do not forget that scammers are people who professionally persuade people under any pretext.
Next, the gullible citizen sends an advance payment or the entire amount to the card indicated by the scammer on Avito, and that’s where it all ends. The card belongs to the drop, the account has been purchased. The scammer cannot be found.
But this cannot go on for long. Over time, people become more careful, and anti-fraud systems become stricter. Requirements for product placement are being tightened, which reduces the risk of purchasing a product from a fraudster, but does not make it zero.
What is anti-fraud?
Antifraud (from English anti-fraud “fight against fraud”), or (in a narrower sense) fraud monitoring — a system designed to evaluate financial and non-financial events (card transactions, insurance claims and insurance payments, user actions in RBS, transactions with loyalty points, etc.) for suspicion from the point of view of fraud and offering recommendations for their further processing. As a rule, an antifraud service consists of standard and unique rules, filters and lists, against which each transaction is checked.
Avito sees the target audience (TA) of scammers and takes measures to counter them
As an option: tightening network policy and introducing Fingerprint verification (digital fingerprint). Avito will not make it so easy to create a new account or buy one. Now, in order to post goods on Avito, you need to buy an account that has real purchases, since empty accounts fall under fraud monitoring much more often than accounts with already completed transactions. Also questionable will be those IP addresses that were previously registered on this site, but under a different account.
Times change, so do scammers
Now that there are fewer of them, they are beginning to look for new ways to deceive. They deceive not only people, but also Avito himself, posing as real sellers.
After a fraudster buys or registers an account, he does not immediately post ads, but lets this account “sit down,” i.e. imitates the behavior of a real person. This is important for Avito. He can also write to a real person with a question about a purchase, so that the real seller will answer him, thereby confusing the system and creating the impression that there is a real person behind this account who wants to buy or sell something.
But it won't always be like this
And then the moment comes when the scammer posts another ad. The photographs are better, the texts are beautifully written. The price is no longer so sweet that the masses will take the bait; The more people notice that this is a scammer, the faster the scammer's account will be blocked. He communicates with all users as if he really wants to sell this product, warming up Avito so that he doesn’t have any questions.
It sounds stupid, but once you google how scammers bypass antifraud for hundreds of millions of dollars, everything will fall into place. And here’s the same case: a real buyer writes who is interested in the product, but the scammer is already offering him a real service that is advertised from every website – Avito Delivery.
There is no need to invent anything, delivery is available, but the scammer does not send the Avito delivery rules and does not explain how it works. In such a case, he has his own screenshots or websites that mislead people.
Above is a screenshot of an example of the kind of images scammers drop. Allegedly, these are the official and completely safe rules of the trading platform itself. There may be many such screenshots, but the essence is the same – they are not true.
Next, the scammer, seeing that the victim is ready, prepares that same link. As a rule, this is done automatically: your link to the real Avito is sent to a telegram bot developed by the same scammers; in response you receive a very similar link with your ad. Communication is carried out in instant messengers, since Avito himself prohibits sending links in dialogue.
A trusting person, suspecting nothing, follows the link and enters his real delivery address, phone number, mail, as well as the details of the bank card from which the money will be debited. After a person enters the details of his bank card, they will be displayed to the scammers, and they will write off money from this card in various ways. We will look at how fraudulent schemes are created and a look from inside one of the teams a little later.
The scheme also works in the opposite direction; the fraudster can be not only the seller, but also the buyer:
The scheme is the same:
Also, if a gullible buyer has questions about delivery, he can follow the fake link and read the rules of how the delivery itself works. But even if this confuses him, he can write to the technical support chat using this fake link, where they will answer him and confirm that it is indeed safe. However, it will not be Avito employees who will write, but the scammers themselves.
Thus, a fraudster earns an average of 200 thousand rubles, literally without leaving home. In the second part we will cover:
How scam teams work
What sites are they robbing?
Other connections and operating principles
How to avoid their tricks!
Disclaimer
Unlawful actions that go against the law are punishable by administrative and criminal liability: Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation can be punished from a fine of up to 120 thousand rubles to imprisonment for up to 10 years (depending on the specific crime). This post is posted for informational purposes.
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