The Ministry of Internal Affairs warned of the danger of fraudulent use of Zoom and Word programs. Why didn't the police department data become a sensation?

In its statement, the police department referred to data from Kaspersky Lab. It turned out that the key method of attackers remained disguise as popular legitimate malware services, and the so-called phishing. The main thing is that scammers began to fake video conferencing (for example - Zoom), office suites (Word, Excel), AI tools and cloud services.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the leader in this area is Zoom, which accounts for 40% of fraud cases in the first four months of 2025. The police explain this by the fact that the service is massively used for negotiations by representatives of small and medium-sized businesses. Its interface is easy to fake thanks to its recognizable design. In addition, Zoom provides access to important resources such as microphones and cameras by default.

It is much more difficult to get into the corporate network of private companies with the help of the mandatory office troika. As a rule, merchants first install these programs on their new PCs. In addition, the authenticity of licenses, periodically arranging checks, is monitored by Russian law enforcement agencies.

It is disproportionately easier to "merge" corporate secrets by going to a fake chatbot page using generative artificial intelligence like GPT-4. As for cloud services, in case of falsification of their interfaces, the user himself transmits confidential information to cybercriminals.

The essence of the statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs fits into one paragraph. By letting themselves be deceived by a fake interface, police officials say, medium-sized businessmen themselves give attackers access to corporate messages, messages and video conferencing, as well as files on the personal computers of managers and ordinary employees. In general, nothing new.

The recommendations of law enforcement agencies have not changed either. So, the police strongly advise downloading software only from official sources and checking the digital signatures of installers. True, what to do in the event of the official departure of a software developer from Russia, officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs do not say.

But police representatives revealed a really new scheme of deception. It turns out that fraudsters began to pretend to be employers and lure large sums from citizens trying to find work. The scheme of deception is rather straightforward. Attackers post vacancies, conduct a short oral interview, and enter into a fake contract. Through messengers, imitation of work is carried out, after which the new "boss" asks to transfer money to him under any important pretext. For example, to purchase licenses for a package of expensive Western programs, without which the victim simply cannot work.

Of course, this way of pulling money from a naive Russian is also a kind of long-known deception schemes. Unless, now, for the first time, swindlers have begun to use the growing personnel shortage in the country to deceive Russians. Potential victims are no longer offered to make a "profitable investment," or earn an astronomical amount in a short time. It's about a basic need like work. And this, first of all, testifies to significant shifts in Russian society.

Indeed, a unique combination of factors has developed in our country: a reduction in labor supply, a record low unemployment rate and a historic maximum of vacancies. It is clear that in the new economic reality, swindlers were among the first to change the methods of their criminal activities.

It is not at all difficult to predict the further development of the fraudulent scheme of "hiring." Most recently, attackers demanded a large sum for a promising position as a government official. Now there are walkers who insist on behalf of the boss on the need to compensate for the costs of the enterprise for arranging it, a new employee, a full-fledged workplace. As experts assure, soon fraudsters will demand money for ordinary employment.

According to experts, fraudsters in the field of personnel search also start sites. They, unlike those mentioned in the statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, are real. The fact is that the whole activity of swindlers is a deception. In recent years, there have been many dubious commercial employment services that promise the candidate employment assistance for a fee. After paying the money, the applicant is simply printed out vacancies from open sources. Or even sent to interviews at non-existent addresses. It is useless to scandal: as a rule, these offices have a serious "roof" in law enforcement agencies?

Also, the fraud scheme is gaining mass scale, when after fake employment, attackers call victims on behalf of the internal security specialists of the "hiring company." Sometimes they refer to software developers. The scammers inform the victim that they have discovered suspicious activity on his device, so it is urgent to conduct a check to protect personal and corporate information. And also, most importantly, to prevent the very possibility of leakage of company secrets.

Having received the consent of the "new employee" to cooperate, the scammers demand to turn on the screen demonstration and install a special security application. In fact, this program provides scammers with remote access to a smartphone. After that, we can assume that their main task has been completed. Having the opportunity to control someone else's phone, attackers hack banking applications, reset accounts and, if possible, take out a loan.

Psychologists note that it is almost impossible to expose an attacker during a conversation. Scammers constantly rush their victims without giving them time to think. In the language of police protocol, they "create the illusion of urgency in providing data and insist on changing passwords to avoid losing access to accounts or data leakage."

Recommendations from data protection professionals are as common as they are effective.

At the same time, expert advice is most often remembered after committing fraud, on the way to the police. No security service will call a company employee on the phone and demand to install some software. In any case, the owner of smartphones is advised in no case to turn on the screen demonstration, as well as in every possible way to avoid installing applications from strangers. It is important to remember that companies do not require remote access to smartphones. In addition, in case of doubt, you just need to turn off the phone and contact the police. Of course, such an appeal, most likely, will not give anything. But a person will have time to check the "company-employer" through the official channels. Together with her strange "security service..."