Fraudsters create fake clinic chats in instant messengers

In Russia, cases of fraud using fake chats of medical institutions in instant messengers have become more frequent. Scammers create groups under the guise of clinic registries in order to steal personal data and money from citizens, writes Sever-Press.

The chat, stylized as an official one, receives a message with the user’s full name and date of birth. It offers to “confirm or cancel the attachment” to the clinic. If the person answers, the attacker makes a personal connection and, under various pretexts – for example, to “check” or “activate a service” – asks for a code from an SMS, compulsory medical insurance policy data, passport or SNILS.

Experts warn: real clinics do not conduct such checks through instant messengers. For official information, they use their websites, chat bots on Telegram and pages on social networks.

It also became known about another fraudulent scheme – attackers invite residents to come to government buildings. Under the pretext of re-registration and indexation of payments, residents are urged to appear in person, for example, at the department of social development, writes Vslukh.ru.

To avoid becoming a victim of deception, experts advise not to enter into dialogue with suspicious interlocutors and not to provide confirmation codes or personal information.

Newslab now in MAX. News is also published in OK | VK | Zen | Telegram