Experts Sergey Zolotukhin and Dmitry Dudkov from company F6 have issued a warning to Russians: fraudsters are employing deceptive tactics to involve ordinary individuals in “dropper” schemes without their knowledge. They shared insights on how people can become unwitting accomplices and provided crucial advice to avoid such situations.
A “dropper” is an individual who becomes an accessory to financial crimes. Scammers transfer money stolen from victims into their bank accounts and then instruct them to withdraw the cash or send it to another person or account, thereby obscuring the trail of the illegal funds.
According to the specialists, to lure individuals into these criminal operations, perpetrators offer various fake opportunities. These commonly include bogus job vacancies, particularly roles like couriers or cryptocurrency exchange operators, or promises of receiving non-existent government benefits or payouts. If someone accepts the offer, illicit funds are deposited into their account. The fraudsters then pressure the individual to transfer the money to another card or withdraw it and hand it over, often suggesting they can keep a small percentage as payment for their `service`.
Another common method involves asking potential victims to open multiple bank accounts across different financial institutions and provide the account details, again in exchange for a fee. Fraudsters also trick people into installing malicious applications on their mobile phones designed to intercept bank card details and other sensitive financial information.
To avoid becoming entangled in financial crimes, the F6 experts provided clear recommendations: Never hand over your bank cards to anyone else. Absolutely refrain from sharing your bank account details, login credentials, passwords, or verification codes received via SMS. Experts also urged people not to install any applications on their devices at the request of others and strongly warned against conducting any transactions involving strangers` bank cards, especially if a reward is offered. Zolotukhin and Dudkov also emphasized the danger of registering sole proprietorships or legal entities in your name if asked to do so by unfamiliar individuals.
The F6 experts added a critical piece of advice: “Immediately notify your bank about any unexpected deposits to your card.” They explained that a common tactic is for scammers to deposit money, claim it was a mistake, and then pressure the recipient to transfer it back or to another account. The experts stressed the importance of remaining vigilant and cautious to avoid falling victim to these schemes.
New Law Introduced Criminal Liability for Droppers
A significant legal development underscores the seriousness of this issue. On June 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law legislation that introduces criminal liability specifically for individuals acting as “droppers”. Under this new law, accomplices in financial fraud schemes can face severe penalties, including fines up to 300,000 rubles or imprisonment for up to three years. This law is set to come into effect on July 5.
