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Cyber instruction: information security and protection against online fraud

In recent years, SMS mailings or emails with messages about winning a car or other valuable prizes have become very popular. To get a "win", cybercriminals usually ask to transfer a certain amount of money to electronic accounts, citing the need to pay taxes, customs duties, transportation costs, etc. After receiving the funds, they stop communicating or ask to transfer additional amounts for registration of the prize.

On March 24 and 26, 2021, an educational event entitled "Cyber-instruction: information security and protection against online fraud" was held in the library of the Cultural Center "Autograd".

This event was organized as part of the implementation of the plan to counter the ideology of terrorism in the Russian Federation and is aimed at improving the legal and information culture of users.

From the side of the Togliatti Academy of Management, the Vice-Rector for Educational Work and Inclusive Education Alla Aleksandrovna Semova, the Director of the Library and Information Complex Olga Vasilievna Balakina and the 1st-year students of the Design and Applied Informatics directions of the Togliatti Academy of Management took part in the educational event in the amount of 22 human.

The main topic of the conversation between the head of the branch literature hall Belyankina Natalya Vladimirovna with the students of the Academy was civilized, competent and safe behavior in the Internet environment.

In the format of the event, questions such as:

types of cyber fraud and rules of conduct when attempting cyber attacks

trusted and fake sites, phishing;

custom check of mirror sites and forgeries;

observance by Internet resources of the Federal Law "On Personal Data";

technical protection of personal data;

the unreliability of the public Wi-Fi network for transmitting important data and money transfers;

strong passwords and the consequences of hacking accounts.

Phishing is the most dangerous and most widespread form of online fraud. The bottom line is to entice passwords, pin codes, numbers and CVV codes from the victim. There are a lot of schemes that help fraudsters get the information they need.

So, using spam mailings, fake letters are sent to potential victims, allegedly on behalf of legal organizations, in which instructions are given to go to the "twin site" of such an institution and confirm passwords, pin codes and other information that are subsequently used by cybercriminals to steal money from the victim's account. Quite common are offers of work abroad, notification of winning the lottery, as well as messages about inheritance.

How to protect yourself from this kind of crime? First of all, you need to be prudent. Think about whether you took part in the prize drawing? Are you familiar with the organization that sent the winning notification? How do the organizers of the action know your contact information? If you cannot answer at least one of these questions, then you must ignore the received message.