“Thank you for the tip”: how acquaintance in Telegram turns blackmail for teenagers

Scammers have refined the old “Let’s Meet” scheme and are increasingly targeting Belarusian schoolchildren. Innocuous correspondence turns into threats, messages from a false investigator and a demand to transfer parental savings. How this scheme works and what is important to explain to children is in the Hearing Test program on ONT.

First act: acquaintance and request to send geolocation

The very essence is not new, but now scammers with even greater criminal zeal beat Belarusian schoolchildren. The action takes place in the famous Telegram-bot for dating.

So, one day the student sees a notification: “New couple!” A correspondence is formed with a new acquaintance "about this, about this." It can continue for quite a long time, until a virtual friend asks: “I’m coming to your city the other day.” Where do you live

An unsuspecting teenager gives an address. He replied, “I don’t know the city at all.” Put a dot on the satellite map so I can figure it out.” The victim, seeing nothing strange, sends the coordinates. And the second act of the criminal spectacle begins.

Act Two: "Thanks for the tip."

A video message arrives in the face. A new acquaintance is in military uniform and dryly says: “Thanks for the tip!”

Then there are threats: allegedly these coordinates will be attacked by drones and everyone around will die. Cyber scammers generously add colorfulness: “You can safely say goodbye to relatives!” To avoid the alleged massacre, the frightened teenager is offered to hand over the coordinates of military hospitals, the Ministry of Defense or other facilities associated with the army.

Once the desired geolocation goes into the chat room, scene number three begins.

Act Three: The False Investigator and Parental Savings

In Telegram, the child receives an alleged “State Alert”: “Information about the transfer of coordinates to hostile persons has been recorded.” Next, the demand to remain calm and wait for the report of the investigator “Ivan Dmitrievich Volkov”, who will explain further actions.

The main condition: “No one can tell about what is happening, not even parents. There are serious consequences.”.

Soon there is a new correspondence - with the same "Wolves". He tells a familiar story: to escape, you need to fulfill the requirements and send for the so-called “check” all parental savings. That's what a scared kid does.

After that, at best, scammers delete the correspondence. At worst, they continue to blackmail, extort new sums or offer to become a courier and take money from other victims.

History from Minsk: two teenagers 14 years old

A real case from the capital: the attacker pretended to be a schoolboy in the dating app and met a 14-year-old teenager. After a while I asked for a geolocation. The boy agreed, seeing nothing suspicious.

He then took a video call. On the screen was a stranger in camouflage, who threatened: sent coordinates will fly military drones, and the teenager will be in the colony.

Fearing for himself and his parents, the child agreed to transfer more than 15 thousand Belarusian rubles, which he found at home.

The worst thing is that a 14-year-old girl came for the money. The ninth-grader was intimidated by another scheme and, promising the opportunity to avoid criminal prosecution, forced to become a link in the criminal chain. Under stress, the schoolgirl agreed to act as a courier.

Parents: Talk to children

And now about how not to get into such troubles. The first appeal is to the parents. Talk to your children! Explain that a stranger on the Internet may not be who he claims to be. Even if he appears to be the same age: the age indicated in the questionnaire does not prove anything.

Tell us why it is dangerous to pass on sensitive information: home address, date of birth, information about the work of parents and family savings. Any unnecessary word can be used against the child, including for psychological pressure.

And the requirement “not to tell anyone, not even parents” is one of the main signs that the game is being played by fraudulent rules. And most importantly, the child should know that he can come to loved ones with any problem. Even if you are already scared, sent an address or fulfilled someone else's request.

Students: Keep Threats and Seek Help

Do not give strangers photos, videos and coordinates of military facilities. This is not a game and not an exciting quest, as the interlocutor can assure.

Save messages with threats and blackmail attempts – for example, take screenshots. Then even after deleting the correspondence, you will have information about what happened.

If you have already got into such a story, tell your parents and together contact law enforcement.