The Russians were given a sign that the number was in the scammers’ databases

If a person receives suspicious messages every day with various fraudulent legends, his number could end up in the databases of criminal call centers. This was reported by the department for organizing the fight against illegal use of information and communication technologies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.

The department explained that users sometimes encounter not just one attempt at deception, but several scenarios at once. These could be messages about deliveries, pension recalculation, medical examinations, house chats, parcels, or account hacking.

Such activity may indicate that the phone number was included in the scammers’ databases or was marked as “active” in their CRM systems. This can happen if a person has previously answered calls, followed links, or entered into correspondence with unknown persons. In such cases, attackers can simultaneously test different schemes to see which one will be trusted. Messages may come from different groups of scammers who buy ready-made databases for calling and mailings.

If the number of suspicious messages has increased sharply, the Ministry of Internal Affairs advises checking what personal data is publicly available. Experts also recommend strengthening privacy settings in instant messengers. For example, prohibit adding to groups and channels to everyone except contacts, hide the phone number from strangers, limit the search for an account by number, and prohibit unfamiliar users from writing first.