A new fraudulent scheme on the Internet that is entering our country, NOVA reported. Scammers started handing out money so they could gain the trust of victims. Once trapped, the victims start investing large sums, and then the scammers disappear without a trace.
IT specialist Anna Rozhkova did not suspect that she could become entangled in the tentacles of online fraudsters. It all started exactly a week ago when he received a notification on WhatsApp.
"I was asked if I had free time. Very easy tasks for which money is easily obtained. In a very short time, the amounts escalated," says Anna Rozhkova, a victim of cyber fraud.
The message originating from Yemen states that between 5 and 100 euros can be earned per day. Anna just needs to like a few YouTube videos and she accepts the task.
"And instantly 5 euros came to my Revolut account. I got them right away, and the actual time I invested was a few seconds. Just a few clicks. Actually, the idea is that there are levels there. The first level receives one euro per video and then the sums are larger," says Anna.
After she raises the level, she is added to the Telegram group "Daily Tasks". There he sees how much money he can earn with what contribution. Commissions range from €52 to €15,000. In order not to take a big risk, the programmer invests in the lower levels. And it starts to win.
"I was on VIP 2 when I sent 90 BGN and received 72 euros as profit from it. I was put in a group of 5 people. A group task where the investment was BGN 1,280. I said I didn't have that kind of money, and the answer was: "We all try hard when we work. We have to make an effort. Make an effort to find them. You can ask friends. As before - we will give you back more", she claims.
And so when the sums became more serious, the good tone grew coarse. "Then I said that this was a scam for me, that I would address the media. Then they started threatening me with lawyers. "A lawyer will contact you within three days". After a few hours they wrote to me: "Did you find money or a lawyer to contact you?", says Anna. According to her, she has not yet contacted the authorities because "this happened a few days ago" and her first contact was the NOVA team.
We searched the “Cybercrimes” to GDBOP to tell us if the money can be returned to the defrauded Bulgarians and how much it is, but we did not receive a comment.
With the ethical hacker Simeon Nguyen, our team followed the digital tracks of the criminals.
"The information points to Asian countries. Most likely China. I noticed that of the IPs - one is in Hong Kong and the other is in Tokyo. This is a fairly common technique - “something for something”. To lure you in, to hook you and then hit you more seriously,'' claims Simeon Nguyen, an ethical hacker.