PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE WARNS

THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE WARNS: "When conducting financial transactions using computer technology, vigilance is required, as instances of monetary theft have become more frequent."

THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE WARNS: "When conducting financial transactions using computer technology, vigilance is required, as instances of monetary theft have become more frequent."

In recent years, the number of crimes committed using computer technologies has significantly increased. The most common are thefts of funds from citizens' bank accounts. The methods and mechanisms used by criminals to steal funds are diverse.

For instance, criminals quite often use special devices (skimmers) that allow them to record and copy information from the magnetic stripes of citizens' bank cards when used in ATMs (miniature video cameras, overlays for keyboards, and card readers). The information copied by criminals from the magnetic stripe is subsequently transferred by them to duplicate cards ("blanks"), which enables them to freely steal funds from bank accounts. In this regard, before performing operations at ATMs and infokiosks, it is necessary to ensure that there are no foreign objects on the keyboard, in the card slot area, and in the overall working area.

Criminals often gain possession of bank card details contained on the cards themselves. In particular, to make purchases in some online stores, it is sufficient to provide the alphanumeric codes found on the front of the bank card (its number and expiry date), as well as on the back near the magnetic stripe. In this situation, to avoid becoming a victim of criminals, under no circumstances should you leave your bank card unattended, thereby eliminating the possibility of malicious actors recording these details.

Recently, fraudsters have been widely using so-called fake websites and clone sites to obtain bank card details. For example, situations where malicious actors deliberately create websites offering services on behalf of fictitious financial organisations are quite common, with these services most frequently related to international money transfers. In some cases, criminals replace the websites of legitimate financial organisations on the internet with clone sites. By using such websites, citizens voluntarily provide their bank card details, as well as bank card passwords, to fraudsters, who subsequently promptly "empty" their accounts. In order to avoid becoming a victim of fraudsters in these situations, before using the services of financial organisations on the global internet, for example, to make a money transfer, pay for utility services, etc., it is necessary to carefully study the information about the organisation and its website available on the internet, including reviews. It is necessary to use reliable websites with secure communication channels. For example, one of the signs of a secure channel is the presence of the prefix "https://" in the address. At the same time, fraudsters often use the prefix "http://" (without the Latin "s") when creating clone sites. You should also not allow the system to automatically save your login and password on the global internet, which are used to access your card account, as auto-saving increases the risk of fraudsters obtaining confidential information.

Prosecutor of the Department for Supervision of Legislation Enforcement
of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus for
Vitebsk Region
Vladislav Naryzhny