Fraudsters are not resting.

In recent years, the number of crimes committed using computer technologies has significantly increased. The most common are thefts of funds from citizens' bank accounts. The methods and mechanisms used by criminals to steal funds are diverse.

For instance, criminals often use special devices (skimmers) that allow them to memorize and copy information from the magnetic strips of citizens' bank cards when they are used in ATMs (miniature video cameras, keyboard overlays, and card readers). The information copied by criminals from the magnetic strip is subsequently transferred to duplicates of cards ("blanks"), which allows them to carry out thefts of funds from bank accounts without hindrance. In this regard, before performing transactions at ATMs and info kiosks, it is necessary to ensure that there are no foreign objects on the keyboard, in the card slot area, and in the working area as a whole.

Criminals often seize the details of bank cards contained on the cards themselves. In particular, to make purchases at a number of online stores, it is sufficient to provide the alphanumeric codes found on the front side of the bank card (its number and expiration date), as well as on the back side near the magnetic strip. In this situation, to avoid becoming a victim of criminals, one must never leave their bank card unattended, thus eliminating the possibility for wrongdoers to capture the specified details.

Recently, fraudsters have widely used so-called fake websites and clone sites to obtain bank card details. For example, it is quite common for wrongdoers to deliberately create websites that offer services on behalf of fictitious financial organizations, most often related to foreign money transfers. In some cases, the websites of reputable financial organizations are replaced by clone sites. By using such websites, citizens voluntarily provide their bank card details and also disclose information about their bank card passwords to criminals, who then promptly "empty" their accounts. To avoid becoming a victim of fraudsters in these situations, before using the services of financial organizations on the global Internet, for example, to make a money transfer, pay utility bills, etc., it is essential to carefully study the information available online about the organization and its website, including reviews. It is necessary to use reliable websites with secure communication channels. For instance, one sign of a secure channel is the presence of the prefix "https://" in the address. At the same time, fraudsters often use the prefix "http://" (without the Latin "s") when creating clone sites. Additionally, one should not allow the system to automatically save the login and password in the global Internet, which provide access to the card account, as auto-saving increases the risks of criminals seizing confidential information.

Prosecutor of the Department for Supervision of
Legislation Enforcement
of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus for
Vitebsk Region Vladislav Naryzhny