Russian consumer protection agency Roskachestvo warned that…
Russian consumer protection agency Roskachestvo warned that attempting to mock or provoke phone scammers may lead to severe retaliation, including SMS bombing, data leaks to the dark web, and financial loss through international premium-rate calls. The agency also highlighted new scam tactics involving QR codes and AI.
Consensus
- Attempting to joke about or confront phone scammers can result in serious consequences.
- Scammers may retaliate with SMS bombing by registering the victim's number on various online services.
- SMS bombing can flood a phone with notifications, including potentially dangerous links.
- Victims of scam retaliation may face risks such as malware infection and loss of personal data.
- Scammers use international numbers to trick victims into calling premium-rate lines through 'vangiri' schemes.
- The victim's number might be leaked to the dark web for free as an act of revenge.
- Roskachestvo advises against engaging with scammers and recommends blocking unknown callers or contacting mobile operators.
Points of divergence
- The motive behind 'vangiri' scams is pure revenge for showing interest in the scam, not direct financial gain by the scammers. — vm
- Scammer call centers have specialized departments: 'cold callers' (khodniki) assess victims' wealth and attempt to manipulate them; if insulted, their number may be passed to hackers or data leak specialists for revenge. — tg_tass_agency
- The victim's phone number can end up in open dark web databases as a form of retaliation, even though such data is usually paid for. — m24
Coverage (3 sources)
- Roskachestvo: Scammers may retaliate for attempts to joke with them — Вечерняя Москва
- Roskachestvo told TASS about methods of scammers' revenge — ТАСС (Telegram)
- Roskachestvo warns of scammers' revenge for attempts to outsmart them — Москва 24