A Quarter of Russians Have Stopped Loan Services, and Scammers are Likely Waiting to Strike
Approximately 300,000 individuals in Kuban declare themselves as credit-free individuals.
In the Kuban region alone, nearly 300,000 people have blocked themselves from loan services. As reported by "Kommersant. Kuban-Chernomorie," these self-imposed blocks have been in place for various reasons, but the majority is due to a complete ban on all credit products.
Over 10 million Russian residents have utilized this service, with the age group 35-45 accounting for a significant portion. Interestingly, since the service's inception, around 3% of self-bans have been lifted, with young people under 25 making the most withdrawals.
Moscow leads the pack with over 1.03 million cases of self-imposed loan blocks, followed by other regions like Moscow Oblast, St. Petersburg, and Tatarstan.
Phishing scams surrounding self-bans have recently been a concern. Scammers may capitalize on this trend by pretending to offer assistance with incorrectly filed self-bans, urging victims to click suspicious links.
Although concrete examples of such scams have yet to surface, the rapid growth of self-bans, the introduction of anti-fraud banking services, and the evolving sanctions landscape paint a picture of an environment ripe for exploitation. Cybercriminals may look to trick users by disguising themselves as official representatives seeking sensitive data or demanding payments for fake enhanced protections.
In addition to phishing attacks, there's a possibility that self-bans may exclude certain types of loans, such as mortgages, car loans, and education loans. Scammers could potentially use messaging platforms to push fraudulent loan offers in these categories to bypass users' self-imposed protections.
The recent seizure of Garantex's domain and the financial restrictions it represents could also be leveraged by scammers. They might try to convince users that their self-bans need "updates" due to sanctions, urging them to provide personal information or click malicious links on platforms like WhatsApp or VKontakte.
Lastly, a significant number of self-ban users have no active loans. This fact, combined with the impersonation of Gosuslugi (Russia's government services portal) on platforms like Viber or OK.ru, could lead users to inadvertently share sensitive login details in the name of managing their self-bans, making them vulnerable to potential fraud. Stay vigilant when using digital platforms to manage your finances and never share sensitive information without verifying the sender's identity.
- In the Kuban region, a staggering 300,000 people have blocked themselves from microfinance services, explaining the latest trend of self-imposed loan blocks in the oblast.
- Among the young generation under 25, the highest number of self-bans withdrawals have been observed, which has perked the interest of potential scammers, who might exploit this situation.
- As the number of self-bans increases, naive users might fall victim to phishing scams that disguise themselves as helpful tips for incorrectly filed loan self-bans, urging users to click on suspicious links.
- Scammers may exploit the seizure of Garantex's domain, claiming that self-bans need updates due to ongoing financial restrictions, and soliciting personal information or malicious clicks on platforms like WhatsApp or VKontakte.
