Fraud & Social Engineering

Scammers Use *#62# USSD Command to Fabricate Surveillance Claims and Steal Victims' Funds

Fraudsters are exploiting the USSD command *#62# to convince targets that their phones are being tapped, then directing them to hand over cash to supposed couriers. The scheme begins with a familiar pretext such as a doorphone replacement or parcel delivery, after which the victim is tricked into revealing a verification code that the attackers themselves sent. A fake government official then claims the victim's account has been compromised and an extremist has been granted power of attorney. Victims are instructed to visit a counterfeit state website, enter *#62#, and interpret the displayed forwarding number as proof of interception. In reality the code only reveals call-forwarding settings for when the phone is unreachable, often showing a voicemail or missed-call service number. T-Bank warns that the displayed number has no connection to surveillance and urges anyone receiving such calls to hang up and contact the real organization through official channels.

Aroshka Cloud Faces Scrutiny Over Alleged False Claims of SOC 24/7 Operations and High-End Infrastructure

StackWorks has published the fourth installment in its investigative series on Aroshka Cloud, detailing how the cloud storage provider accused the studio of orchestrating a DDoS attack shortly after the third part appeared. The service published five posts claiming technical evidence linked StackWorks to the attack, including IP traces from Moscow, Ufa, and Stavropol, while asserting that its SOC 24/7 team mitigated a 3.5 Gbit/s assault within seconds. StackWorks responded with a pre-trial claim demanding removal of the posts and a public retraction, which Aroshka Cloud rejected within seven minutes. Analysis of the provider’s own Kwork job postings reveals requests for template-based support staff, a five-VDS server pool, and later up to eight NVIDIA H200 GPUs with InfiniBand, contradicting public statements about multi-country data centers and round-the-clock security engineers. Further inconsistencies include mismatched time zones in email headers, inflated user statistics, and reliance on the BeDrive script rather than custom development. The investigation continues with plans to involve law enforcement regarding suspicious visitor logs.

Reports Surface on Alleged De-Anonymization of Admins Running Major Russian Hacker Forums

An independent researcher has compiled publicly available information pointing to the possible identities of administrators behind prominent Russian-language darknet forums including exploit.in and duty-free.to. The analysis traces exploit.in back to its 2006 launch by a user known as Toha, later linked to Ukrainian authorities or associates, with the forum reportedly transferred or sold. Forum moderator Quake3, identified in open sources as Anatoly Kravchuk, ceased activity in October 2026 and appears on a German police wanted list. Additional details from forum posts and anonymous Telegram channels name Mikhail Rytikov, known as Abdulla, as a key figure tied to server hosting and operations. The report also notes the recent involvement of known Russian hacker wazawaka on duty-free.to and highlights the declining viability of several legacy forums due to law enforcement actions. All claims are presented as unverified public speculation without new original sourcing.

Google Strengthens Chrome Defenses Against ClickFix Clipboard-Based Scams

Google has updated Chrome to detect and warn users about malicious commands copied to the clipboard as part of ClickFix attacks. These scams trick users into pasting harmful scripts into system tools such as PowerShell under the guise of fixing errors or providing tech support. The new protections activate when Enhanced Protection in Safe Browsing is enabled and send suspicious commands for analysis after removing personal data. Google has also shifted scam page detection from a local Gemini model to a server-side implementation to improve accuracy against fake tech support, antivirus, and browser update sites. The changes make it harder for attackers to bypass browser download checks by abusing clipboard and system console execution. Official details were published in the Google Security Blog.

SPF, DKIM and DMARC: Practical Guide to Detecting Email Spoofing and Phishing

The article explains how email authentication mechanisms SPF, DKIM, and DMARC work together to combat spoofed messages that impersonate trusted services. It provides concrete DNS record examples and shows how to interpret Authentication-Results headers in received emails. SPF verifies authorized sending IP addresses but does not check the visible From address. DKIM adds cryptographic signatures to message content and headers, while DMARC ties these checks to the sender domain visible to users and defines handling policies. The guide also covers common configuration errors, forwarding issues, and why successful authentication does not guarantee message safety. It concludes that these protocols must be combined with additional security measures such as attachment scanning and user awareness training.

JPAAWG 9th General Meeting to Examine AI-Driven Messaging Threats and Global Standards in Tokyo

The Japan Anti-Abuse Working Group will hold its ninth annual General Meeting on November 5-6, 2026, in Tokyo as a hybrid event focused on evolving messaging security challenges. Keynote speaker Tom Bartel from M3AAWG will address worldwide anti-abuse trends and the practical realities of AI-powered attacks and defenses. Sessions will cover the recently standardized DMARCbis specification under RFC 9989, ongoing work on DKIM2 to counter replay attacks, BIMI logo display adoption, and sender guidelines for AI-generated email summaries. Practical workshops will teach DMARC report analysis using real sample data along with related technologies such as ARC, DNSSEC, and MTA-STS. Government agencies including the National Police Agency and Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications will also present, alongside a dedicated track on post-quantum cryptography.

Cybercriminals Use Fake WatchGuard VPN Support Site to Steal Credentials Through SEO Poisoning

Cybercriminals created a counterfeit WatchGuard support website that tricked users into entering their VPN server address, username, and password before delivering the legitimate installer. The Huntress team discovered the phishing page while investigating an October 7 incident at a managed service provider. Victims reached the site through Bing search results for terms such as watchguard vpn sll download, which redirected them to the malicious domain watchguard-vpn.net. The page mimicked the official support structure, including FAQs and a download button that led to a credential-harvesting form. The first submission always failed with an Incorrect data message, prompting victims to re-enter their details, after which the real signed client WG-MVPN-SSL_12_11_5.exe was provided. A 150-line JavaScript script silently exfiltrated the credentials via HTTP POST to a secondary domain, leaving no visible signs of compromise on the victim's system. The site, which claimed to be an independent fan site, was taken offline on October 13.

AI-Powered Drainer Scams Target IT Job Seekers via Malicious Repositories and Fake Recruiters

IT hiring has become a fertile ground for drainer scams that trick candidates into running malicious code under the guise of technical interviews. Scammers pose as recruiters on job platforms, offering roles that require downloading projects from private repositories or installing browser extensions for supposed corporate tools. These attacks often lead to crypto wallet drainers stealing funds, with victims reporting losses around $2000 in documented cases. AI tools are heavily used by attackers to generate realistic job postings, LinkedIn profiles, deepfake videos for calls, and obfuscated malicious code hidden in test assignments. Candidates are advised to inspect package.json, lock files, and CI/CD configurations before any execution and to use AI assistants like Claude for static analysis without running the code. The trend has grown amid mass layoffs and economic uncertainty, turning desperate job searches into opportunities for financial theft.

Marketplace Scraping in 2026: Why Timer-Based IP Rotation Undermines Parsers

Analysis of one full day of telemetry from MobileProxy.Space reveals how marketplace anti-fraud systems detect scrapers through session continuity and rotation patterns rather than IP reputation alone. Over 2 million IP changes were recorded across 8,878 modems, with a median of 95 unique addresses per modem. Timer-driven rotations accounted for 60.2% of all changes, and 92.2% of those intervals were exact multiples of one minute, with a median of 120 seconds. Such rigid periodicity stands out against natural mobile network behavior where address changes occur irregularly due to cell handovers or PDP context resets. The data also shows that 73.1% of address changes complete within five seconds, yet duplicate rotation commands still occur in 0.8% of link-triggered events. The recommended approach ties rotation to parser session state, recreates cookies and TLS profiles on each change, and waits for address confirmation before resuming requests.

Bank Transfer Comments Such as 'Bribe' or 'To the Common Pot' Risk Triggering Compliance Reviews

Lawyer Meri Valishvili warned that casual or joking comments added to bank transfers can prompt automated compliance checks and account restrictions. Systems scan payment descriptions for terms like 'bribe', 'kickback', or 'to the common pot' without assessing humorous intent. No single public list of flagged phrases exists, as each bank independently configures its monitoring algorithms. Even routine descriptions such as 'for manicure' or 'utilities payment' may raise flags when combined with regular amounts or recurring patterns. Valishvili advises private individuals to omit unnecessary comments and to reference specific contract numbers and dates when a transfer has legal significance. For group collections, she recommends using bank-provided tools that clearly state the purpose of the payment.

How to Secure Your Gosuslugi Account Against Hacks and Recover Access After Takeover

Russia's Gosuslugi portal now holds far more than basic documents, including tax notifications, child records, data-sharing consents, and access to other government services, making account security critical. The guide stresses using a unique strong password, enabling two-factor authentication with TOTP or biometrics instead of SMS, and regularly reviewing active sessions and connected mobile apps. It details steps to add a trusted contact for recovery, audit consents granted to third parties, and monitor for unauthorized logins or statements. In case of suspicious codes or calls, users must never share verification codes and should immediately check actions in the system, revoke unknown consents, and contact support. If access is lost, recovery options include online password reset with passport data or in-person visits to service centers, followed by credit history checks and self-imposed credit bans via Gosuslugi starting March 2025. The advice also covers protecting the linked phone number and email to prevent SIM swaps and further fraud.

Scammers Impersonate Social Fund to Threaten Child Benefit Cancellation and Steal Savings

Fraudsters have launched a new social engineering campaign targeting parents by impersonating officials from Russia's Social Fund. Callers claim that suspicious transfers have been detected on family accounts and threaten the cancellation of child benefits unless savings are moved to a special transit account. The scheme relies on fabricated rules about income assessment and uses the promise of an 'unreported' account to trick victims into sending money. The Narodny Front's Moshelovka platform, cited by RIA Novosti, confirms that the Social Fund never requests transfers to third-party accounts for benefit verification. Families are instructed to check official notifications exclusively through Gosuslugi or by visiting an SFR office in person. Authentication codes from government services or banking apps must never be shared over the phone.

Silent Call Answering on Android: Defeating Phone Spam by Removing Human Attention

A detailed proposal suggests abandoning traditional spam call blocking in favor of allowing all incoming calls to connect automatically while keeping them invisible to the user. The approach uses Android's Telecom Framework and InCallService to answer calls silently without ringing, notifications, or screen activation. This breaks the economic model of mass dialing systems by inflating answered call metrics with empty connections that contain no human. The concept separates the technical establishment of a call from delivering user attention, forcing spammers to detect real people after the connection is made. Implementation requires the app to hold the ROLE_DIALER role and selectively invoke Call.answer() based on custom rules instead of always showing the incoming call UI. The author argues this shifts the detection burden onto robocall platforms and reduces the value of every successful connection.

Telegram Scam Bot Exposed by Fixed Timer and Deleted Messages in Telethon Userbot Analysis

A detailed investigation into a romance scam attempt on Telegram revealed an AI-driven userbot masquerading as a woman named Maria from Yaroslavl. The bot maintained consistent 4-5 minute response delays regardless of message length or time of day, responded to deleted messages, and accumulated multiple inputs before replying in batches. It refused out-of-character requests using repetitive phrases like "I am not a..." and handed off media or confusing inputs to a human operator. The bot failed to react to a nonexistent city name and ignored voice messages containing silence, leading to delayed human intervention. The chat was later deleted from the scammer side after testing, and the account ignored messages from a second profile. The analysis includes a full reconstruction of the bot's logic using the Telethon library, highlighting prompt protections against jailbreaks and reliance on fixed delays.

CACTER Upgrades PhishSim Anti-Phishing Simulation System to Reduce Employee Click Rates

CACTER has released an updated version of its PhishSim anti-phishing training platform that allows organizations to run realistic simulated attacks in just four steps. The system replicates common phishing vectors including malicious links, infected attachments, and disguised QR codes while spoofing sender addresses and official domains. Organizations can draw from a continuously refreshed template library covering invoices, financial subsidies, system notifications, and industry-specific scenarios. After each campaign the platform produces detailed visual reports that rank departments, classify employee risk levels, and recommend concrete remediation steps. Long-term use of the platform has been shown to lower average click rates from 23.88 percent to 4.16 percent. The solution is designed for immediate deployment without requiring dedicated security staff.

Scammers Abuse Custom GPT on ChatGPT.com to Deploy Windows RAT via ClickFix Technique

Researchers at Huntress uncovered a phishing campaign that leveraged a custom GPT named Plus 5.6 hosted directly on the official ChatGPT.com domain. Victims searching for ChatGPT were directed to the malicious GPT through sponsored Google results, where the bot instructed them to visit a backup domain due to alleged service issues. The link led to a Google Sites page mimicking a Cloudflare security check that triggered the ClickFix social engineering tactic. Users were prompted to copy and execute a command in Windows, initiating a multi-stage infection with a remote access trojan capable of full system control, file access, screen viewing, and camera or microphone activation. Huntress confirmed at least 40 incidents tied to the campaign, though only two infections were directly traced to the malicious GPT. The first GPT was removed on September 25 after notification, but a replacement linked to the same operation appeared by September 27.

Fake EU Migration Declaration Scam Targets Russian Travelers for Passport Scans

Kaspersky researchers have uncovered a phishing campaign impersonating the EU migration authority to trick Russian citizens planning Schengen trips into submitting personal data and passport scans. The emails reference the real EES border system and threaten entry delays unless travelers complete a fake digital declaration five days before arrival. Victims are directed to a professionally designed multilingual site mimicking official EU portals, where they must upload scans of their passports along with trip details and companion information. The stolen data is then used for follow-up social engineering calls aimed at extracting money or further credentials. Attackers likely obtain target email addresses from hotel and booking service data breaches. No pre-registration is actually required by the genuine EES system, making any unsolicited requests suspicious. Travelers are advised to verify all such demands only through official consulate or visa center websites.

Psychological Manipulation Outpaces Technical Hacks in Modern Cyber Scams

The article examines how emotional pressure rather than outright lies drives many online scams and social engineering attacks. It breaks down five common manipulation tactics including fear induction, guilt-tripping, false urgency, forced binary choices, and emotionally loaded framing. Practical verification steps are provided for each technique, such as separating threat claims from proposed solutions and checking independent sources before acting. The guidance emphasizes that manipulation often combines multiple tactics in a single message, as illustrated by urgent requests to transfer money without phone verification. Readers are given ready-to-use response phrases to resist pressure and advised on actions after falling for a scam, including contacting banks through official channels. The piece stresses that genuine emergencies still require independent confirmation rather than blind compliance.

Russians Create Digital Cheat Sheets to Shield Relatives from Online Scams, Kaspersky Lab Study Reveals

A new study by Kaspersky Lab shows that 54% of Russians are actively concerned about their relatives' online safety and are taking concrete steps to protect them from fraud. The primary fear is scammers, cited by 58% of respondents, followed by financial losses at 48%. Instead of simple warnings, 63% now produce detailed digital or physical cheat sheets, with screenshots featuring arrows being the most popular format at 31%. Generation Z leads this trend, with 53% creating such guides compared to 46% of Millennials and 27% of Baby Boomers. The findings come from a 2026 survey of 1,006 residents in major Russian cities, supplemented by data from the International Youth Festival.

PhishIntel: Open-Source Python and Go Tool Automates Web Reconnaissance for OSINT Analysts

PhishIntel is a lightweight reconnaissance utility written primarily in Python with performance-critical components in Go. The tool launches via a single command and presents an interactive menu that lets analysts select language and modules. Its core crawler recursively visits a configurable number of pages at a chosen depth and concurrency level, harvesting Russian and US-format phone numbers, emails, cryptocurrency wallets, and physical addresses. Additional modules collect domain metadata including DNS records, RDAP, WHOIS, TLS certificates, redirect chains, and external JavaScript and API endpoints. A limited TCP port scan performed by the Go binary identifies listening services and basic technology fingerprints without replacing full port scanners such as Nmap. Results are exported in both structured JSON and human-readable HTML formats, while an optional .env file allows customization of user agents and proxies.

Smart Engines and Intek Deliver Russian Scanners for AI-Powered Document Verification and Fraud Prevention

Smart Engines has partnered with GK Intek to release a line of Russian software-hardware scanner complexes that combine automatic data entry with multi-spectral authenticity checks for passports and other identity documents. The systems support documents from Russia, CIS countries and 235 jurisdictions worldwide, analyzing optical, ultraviolet and infrared images plus RFID chips to detect forgeries including photo swaps and digital edits. Deployments at Genbank and Severgazbank have reduced manual passport entry to fractions of a second while blocking fraudulent documents in real time without sending images outside the organization. The same technology powers border control modules at Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo and Koltsovo airports inside the Sapsan system, cutting passenger processing time to 40 seconds. Additional use cases include automatic pass issuance at transport hubs, electronic signature issuance by the Federal Tax Service and a pharmacy robot in Minsk that verifies age-restricted sales. A newly patented U.S. method detects hidden digital manipulations by analyzing image provenance rather than content, while another patent identifies optically variable devices to spot copies and replicas.

Why Isolated Bank Scoring Fails to Prevent Counterparty Default: OSINT Case Study of a Scam Deal

A Russian social entrepreneur lost nearly one million rubles after relying on a major bank's automated compliance system that assigned a green reliability score to a fraudulent supplier. The supplier, registered as a transport company, received 500,000 rubles in targeted government grant funds for IT equipment but delivered only 15,000 rubles worth of goods before disappearing. Retrospective analysis using public Russian registries revealed multiple red flags missed by the isolated scoring algorithm, including mismatched OKVED codes, missing financial statements for three years, and clear ownership links to a bankrupt IT firm. The beneficial owner later faced tax blacklist entry and three-year disqualification after the transport entity was liquidated as inactive. The case demonstrates that single-entity automated checks create a false sense of security by ignoring beneficiary networks and operational logic. Manual verification through official sources such as EGRUL, GIR BO, and arbitration court records proved far more effective at exposing the scheme.

Avito and BI.ZONE Launch Cyberdetective CTF for Non-Technical Employees Focused on Phishing and Social Engineering

Avito's Security Awareness team, in partnership with BI.ZONE, created the Cyberdetective jeopardy-style CTF competition specifically for non-technical staff who do not write code. The three-day event targeted 104 registered participants, with 44 completing tasks and 16 achieving maximum scores across scenarios involving phishing, OAuth consent abuse, file metadata analysis, and prompt injection. Tasks awarded flags not only for investigation but also for refusing risky actions such as granting excessive application permissions or clicking suspicious links. The design incorporated MITRE ATT&CK techniques including T1566.002 Spearphishing Link, T1528 Steal Application Access Token, and T1204.004 Malicious Copy and Paste. Organizers emphasized indirect hints to help participants recognize when an object required action, avoiding the common barrier where employees fail to understand that a strange string or domain needs examination. Feedback highlighted the value of hands-on decision-making over passive lectures, though some technical employees completed the set rapidly.

Paper Mail Combined with Phishing: Russians Targeted by Fake FNS Tax Portal Copies

Russian scammers have started blending traditional postal mail with digital phishing to steal taxpayer credentials. Victims first receive official-looking paper letters from the Federal Tax Service demanding corrections to tax declarations or supporting expense documents. These letters are followed by emails directing users to a counterfeit version of the FNS personal account portal. The fake site captures login details, passwords, and other authentication data that can be reused for further identity theft and account takeovers. Senator Artem Sheikin highlighted the scheme, noting that the paper letter builds initial trust before the electronic follow-up appears legitimate. Users are advised to access tax information only by manually visiting the official FNS website or through the Gosuslugi platform without clicking any links. The attack relies primarily on psychological manipulation rather than technical sophistication.

The Human Factor in Phishing: Why Employees Wait Nine Days to Report Credential Theft

A detailed case analysis reveals how an employee clicked a phishing link, entered credentials, and realized the mistake within a minute, yet security teams only discovered the incident nine days later through an automated rule rather than a human report. The delay stemmed from immediate shame and motivated reasoning that allowed the victim to convince themselves no further action was needed, including the false belief that changing the password resolved the issue. This nine-day window left attacker sessions active, permitted potential mailbox forwarding rules to exfiltrate data, and risked rotating logs that erased forensic evidence. The article examines how corporate cultures that frame incidents as blameworthy events actively discourage reporting and turn minor phishing successes into prolonged investigations involving third parties. Recommendations include creating a no-blame reporting policy with clear boundaries, implementing one-click in-client reporting buttons, and shifting metrics from click rates to reporting speed and volume. The analysis stresses that even strong technical detection cannot fully replace rapid human signals when cultural barriers remain unaddressed.

Fake GTA and Ghost Casino Apps Flood Google Play Early Access with Scam Promises

Unscrupulous developers are exploiting Google Play's Early Access program to distribute applications that make false promises of earnings through fake games and casino experiences. These apps lack public ratings and reviews, preventing disappointed users from warning others before installation. Bitdefender reports that the scheme is heavily promoted via advertisements on TikTok, Facebook, and other social networks, often featuring deepfakes of actors, athletes, and celebrities to build credibility. Users are lured with offers of PayPal payments, cryptocurrency, gift cards, and casino jackpots, but the apps deliberately slow progress near withdrawal thresholds. After installation, the software displays generous virtual winnings that never translate into real payouts. The campaign relies on aggressive advertising and misleading interfaces to maximize installations before users realize the fraud.

BI.ZONE Mail Security 3.0 Enhances Detection of Password-Protected Archives and Spam Variants

BI.ZONE has released Mail Security 3.0, introducing new mechanisms to detect email threats and improved tools for administrators. The updated system now assigns additional risk scores to password-protected archives when their contents cannot be unpacked, without automatically classifying the archive itself as malicious. It also compares message texts to identify near-identical emails used in spam campaigns where attackers slightly alter wording to evade filters. Administrators can now incorporate SPF and DKIM verification results into delivery rules to better distinguish legitimate senders from impersonators. According to BI.ZONE statistics, phishing accounted for 90 percent of illegitimate email traffic in the first half of 2026. Additional protections include CAPTCHA challenges after repeated failed login attempts on administrative accounts. The release also adds bulk management of rules, improved logging with a side panel for message details, a new Events section, and Syslog export to external SIEM systems.

F6 and MAX Neutralize Over 2,550 External Phishing and Scam Resources in Two-Month Operation

F6 and the MAX messenger have jointly blocked more than 2,550 malicious external websites used for phishing, scams, and other forms of online fraud. The effort relied on the F6 Digital Risk Protection platform, which continuously scans for fake authentication pages and fraudulent resources targeting users. Monitoring took place during July and August 2026, after which experts from both organizations arranged for the sites to be taken down. The action focused exclusively on external resources and did not involve any malicious content hosted inside the MAX messenger itself. F6 Digital Risk Protection head Stanislav Goncharov noted that regular takedowns can reduce attacker activity over time, yet users must still verify website addresses manually before entering credentials or payment data.

Trezor Warns of Email Provider Breach Used in Targeted Phishing Campaign Against Hardware Wallet Users

Trezor has disclosed that attackers compromised an external email provider and leveraged it to send phishing messages that appeared to originate from the company. The emails carried the subject line 'Critical Security Alert: STM32 Entropy Vulnerability' and falsely claimed a hardware flaw in STM32 microcontrollers that would reduce entropy and allow seed phrase reconstruction. No such CVE exists, and the campaign followed classic social-engineering patterns of urgency and brand impersonation aimed at stealing recovery phrases. Trezor has since disabled the malicious domain and continues investigating how the provider was accessed. Similar messages may have reached users of BitBox, suggesting possible compromise of shared service providers across the hardware wallet ecosystem. The incident underscores the difficulty of detecting phishing when it originates from legitimate third-party infrastructure.

Free Robux Lures Used in Phishing Campaign Targeting Children's Messenger Accounts

Scammers have launched a new wave of attacks aimed at children and teenagers by promising free in-game currency for Roblox, Brawl Stars, and Standoff 2. The scheme, uncovered by specialists from F6, uses short YouTube videos that direct victims to phishing sites disguised as reward platforms. One prominent site branded as NovaDrop tricks users into selecting a messenger and game before presenting a rigged roulette that awards a fake prize of 25,000 coins. To claim the reward, victims must enter a phone number and six-digit verification code, which actually authorizes the attackers in the chosen messenger. Once inside, the criminals can read conversations, view documents and media, access contacts, and send messages to the victim's friends while sometimes remaining undetected. The attackers are increasingly focused on hijacking existing accounts due to difficulties in purchasing new Russian profiles for their operations.