How to recognize a VKontakte scammer if they write and ask for a phone number, transfer money to a card in 2021

How to block a VKontakte group for fraud?

Control over the content posted on the social network is exercised by the resource’s technical support service. If you find a group or user who cheats, distributes pornography, or extremist materials, their actions must be stopped.

The most common reasons for filing a complaint with VK technical support:

• disclosure of personal information;
• slander;
• distribution of photos from a personal archive without the user’s permission;
• distribution of extremist materials;
• advertising and sale of non-existent goods and services.

The technical support service acts as a judge for social network users . If the complaint is justified, the group will be blocked. Based on the results of consideration of the complaint, a notice is sent to the applicant.

A collective complaint has priority - it is considered faster than a complaint from a single user. The more complaints are filed against a group, the greater the chance that it will be blocked.

Making a complaint

To file a complaint with VK, proceed as follows:

1. On the main page, click on the “Help” section.
2. Several options for submitting an appeal will be offered here. Select "None Matches".
3. Click Next, then Ask a Question.
4. State the essence of the complaint, attach links to the user's page.
5. Ask to understand the situation.
6. Express your demands for punishment (blocking, removal from VK, etc.).

The response is sent to the applicant within 30 days.

Penalties applied to violators:

• removal of defamatory information, blocking access;
• deleting a group from a social network;
• prohibition on posting links to suspicious services online.

If the application does not give the desired result, all that remains is to contact the government authorities.
A complaint against virtual scammers can be filed with the police and prosecutor's office . Moreover, this must be done promptly, since scammers can delete the group at any time.

Procedure for filing a complaint:

1. Collect information about the fraudster: ID, phone number, etc.
2. Print a copy of the correspondence.
3. Collect documents confirming the fact of transfer of funds.
4. Look on social networks for other users who have suffered from scammers.
5. Contact the police with a statement.
6. Receive a second copy with a stamp, number and registration date.

The Federal Supervision Service Roskomnadzor also accepts complaints about VKontakte groups . It is better to contact here if a VK user violates copyright in the field of literature or art.

On the official page of this department () you can send an online appeal, in which you should indicate:

• Full name of the applicant;
• registration address;
• the reason for filing the complaint;
• the essence of the appeal;
• screenshots from VKontakte pages.

Methods to combat cybercriminals

If a person has become a victim of scammers, they should immediately contact the police. Even if the amount was small, it is worth writing a statement. Perhaps this is not the first time you have contacted us, and you will be able to provide the police with additional information to catch the criminals. All cases related to technology are handled by Department “K” in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. You can complain to the police at your place of residence, and the complaint will then be sent in accordance with the jurisdiction.

List of articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation that fall under the signs of fraud:

• Art. 146 - copyright infringement;
• Art. 159 - fraud;
• Art. 171 - illegal conduct of business activities;
• Art. 182 - providing false information;
• Art. 199 - tax concealment;
• Article 200 - deception of buyers.

What evidence should be collected before filing a written statement with the police:

• Website address;
• swindler nickname;
• information about your e-currency wallet or bank card;
• phone number where the SMS was sent;
• screenshots;
• email address.

If the money was transferred through the WebMoney system, you can write a letter to the support service. The recipient's wallet may be blocked. The WebMoney system also has the passport data of scammers. The chances of getting your money back are slim, but your actions will help identify one of the criminals’ wallets.

To suppress the activities of scammers, there are special services where you can apply to block a malicious site.

How to check a VKontakte page for fraud?

To check the authenticity of a VK page, you need to take just a few steps:

1. Go to the suspicious user’s page and copy his ID (page number).
2. Go to “My News” “Search” “Search by Photo”, insert the seller ID and press “enter”. Here you will see all the posts that are on the VK social network, in which there was a specified link to this user.
3. Scroll through carefully and read the information. If someone wrote somewhere that the subject you are researching is a fraudster, then you will definitely see it.
4. If you didn’t find anything criminal, then copy the link to the page and go to the application
5. Paste the link into the application window and click on the “Find out” button.
6. Below you will see the real ID of the suspicious user.

How to punish a VKontakte scammer?

If you do fall for a scammer, then write to technical support about it -
What to do if you are seriously scammed out of money?

1. Collect all the information about the scammer, page ID, print a copy of the correspondence, and the scammer’s phone number.
2. Collect all documents confirming the fact of the transaction, transfers, checks, etc.
3. Go to the police and write a statement, attaching all the materials on the case; pick up the receipt that your application has been accepted.

Before going to the police, it is advisable to find similar victims of the scammer: a collective complaint is processed much faster.

Where to complain about fraud

Sequence of actions on how to complain about scammers on VKontakte:

1. Report to the support service about people who violate human rights and legitimate interests.
2. File a complaint on the website of the Russian Supervision Committee and the official services webmaster.yandex.ru and google.com, which can block the intentions of scammers.
3. Create groups and forums that bring together victims of extortion with the further goal of collectively contacting the police.

Complaining directly about a social network is futile, since it is not responsible and warns about this during registration.

How to recognize a VKontakte scammer?

Fake accounts are easy to spot . Go to the potential scammer's page. Carefully study all the information about him: his albums, hobbies, school, place of work, friends, contacts.

There will be no detailed information on the scammer’s page: only a partially completed application form and a couple of “fresh” avatars from downloaded pictures. Moreover, all information will be created simultaneously.

Check in VK if there is a person with the same name and page design . Next, check the suspect’s page ID with the page ID that opens via the link on the portal.

It is not difficult to find out the ID: it can appear immediately in the address bar (if the person has not chosen a “personal” VK address); the second method is simply hover over the “send message” button and you will see a link, for example: These numbers are the VKontakte user ID.

If everything matches, the person is registered on the social network and his profile does not raise suspicions, then go to his website/group. Check how long ago they were created using the whois service.

To find out the “age” of a VK group, you can look at the dates of the very first posts/comments.

If the group sells a product, then look at what guarantees are provided to the buyer. Does it say anything about refunds if the transaction fails? What conditions are offered?

It is also worth looking at people's reviews of the seller. Find older ones among them and go to the pages of the people who left these reviews. If the review is not fake, then most of these pages will be actively updated.

If the “object of research” has passed all these stages of verification, then most likely a deal can be concluded with him.

What to do and where to contact government agencies?

You should complain about fraud in VK to the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at your place of residence, or to department “K” (the department that fights cyber crime). It is best to submit two applications to both departments. Applications can be submitted at the physical branch, as well as through the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The application should include the following information::

1. Full information about the situation that occurred.
2. Provide the amount of money lost.
3. Details to which the money was transferred.
4. Tell us how you transferred the money.

The application is accompanied by copies of payment documents that confirm the transfer of funds, screenshots of correspondence with scammers, as well as with technical support of the site, a copy of the application to the bank, and any other information about the scammer. In this case, the money will be returned to you upon completion of the entire process, if the suspect is found and convicted.

Read more about where to contact if you are being scammed via the Internet here.

What schemes do online scammers use?

Let's look at the most common VKontakte fraud schemes:

1. Attackers create a group and offer goods or services at very low prices. Most often, scammers offer: the services of healers and psychics, branded goods at discounted prices, and loans. After payment, the user does not receive anything and is blacklisted by scammers. Or the goods are delivered, but of very low quality. Groups offering loans promise, for a minimum payment fee, a quick decision by the bank on a loan or correction of your credit history. Fraudsters obtain passport and other user data, which they later use for illegal purposes.
2. They create a compromising photograph or correspondence, and then blackmail the “target”.
3. They send out supposedly charitable letters of appeal with requests to help sick or missing people, abandoned animals. In fact, scammers are hiding behind emotional appeals, and photos of real people are taken from the websites of charitable foundations.
4. Fraudsters hack the profile, block the account and demand money from the owner for the access recovery code. Scammers obtain login and password data in various ways. The most common way is to create a duplicate of the VK page with the requirement to re-authorize or enter a mobile phone number. All information becomes available to criminals, and the owner of the page has many problems with his friends, and sometimes with the law. The second way to obtain information is through letters from friends’ addresses, including phishing links to photos that supposedly compromise the user of the page. When you click on the specified link, a malicious program is downloaded that can completely block the computer, read all the data from it and transfer it to criminals.
5. The simplest scheme that a user may encounter is the requirement to send an expensive SMS message for the opportunity to unlock their device.
6. Fake pages of popular TV shows like “Battle of Psychics” are also created, on which people are lured with promises of restoring their health or improving their personal lives. For a fortune telling session, the applicant is asked to make a money transfer, the amount of which can reach several tens of thousands of rubles. Users who fall for the bait of scammers are left without money and without healing.
7. The following type of fraud often affects the female audience. Professional psychologists are involved in the scam and enter into correspondence with the intended victim. The purpose of communication is to gain trust and force the victim to write or do something that could compromise his good name.