Russia`s Human Rights Commissioner, Tatyana Moskalkova, has issued a warning via Telegram regarding a fraudulent scheme targeting the families of Russian military personnel. Scammers are sending out harmful files, falsely claiming to represent the Red Cross organization.
The deceptive messages sent to military families contain malicious files, often with a .apk extension, impersonating the Red Cross committee. The fraudsters trick relatives into installing an application, falsely promising it will help locate service members involved in the Special Military Operation among prisoners of war. The warning specifically highlights that a “.apk” extension at the end of a file name is a strong indicator of a potentially harmful virus.
Families of military personnel were cautioned that installing such a file could result in the compromise of their social media accounts and potentially grant cybercriminals access to their banking applications.
Russians are strongly advised not to open files received from unknown senders and to exercise caution by checking the file extension before downloading anything offered.
In a related development, previous reports have highlighted other tactics used by fraudsters involving payment platforms. These schemes often involve creating fake duplicates of online store websites and payment pages to deceive users.
