- Статьи
- Society
- Entertaining logic: how scammers speculate on the topic of microloans after the winter holidays
Entertaining logic: how scammers speculate on the topic of microloans after the winter holidays
Fraudsters can speculate on the topic of money before payday after the winter holidays, experts have warned about this. The attackers take advantage of the financial difficulties of Russians due to large New Year's expenses and long vacations: they offer potential victims to arrange all kinds of loans, but in fact they steal their funds and personal data. Read the details in the Izvestia article.
What is the topic of money before payday in January interesting to scammers?
January is the most attractive month for scammers in terms of money before payday, says Alexandra Shmigirilova, GR director of the Security Code information security company, in an interview with Izvestia. According to financial mechanisms, the end of one year and the beginning of the next have a long gap between the payment of salaries. Paying an advance in January does not save the situation due to the small number of working days, so after the December salary, the next decent influx of money will only be in February, the expert notes.
— It is at this time that almost the highest expenses of the year are observed: due to gifts for the New Year and long vacations that require financial investments, — says Alexandra Shmigirilova. — Therefore, many in the second half of January, when the holidays ended with the money, feel the need to find funds for current needs.
According to the expert, in such a situation, scammers have a great chance of attracting the attention of potential victims by offering them loans with attractive terms. It is also important that legislative changes are possible since the beginning of the year, and some companies are making increases, adds Dmitry Tsarev, head of the BI.ZONE cloud cybersecurity Solutions department. Emails with such information are of interest to people. This is what attackers use, using social engineering and disguising attacks as official emails that look appropriate and attract the attention of employees.
What schemes on the topic of money before payday are worth waiting for in early 2026
At the beginning of 2026, attackers can develop a variety of schemes on the topic of money before payday, but it is almost impossible to predict specific tricks, the head of BI believes.ZONE Digital Risk Protection Dmitry Kiryushkin. In particular, according to the expert, fraudsters can use the innovation with a progressive scale of taxation.
— In this case, the potential victim will be contacted under the pretext that last year she allegedly mistakenly paid more taxes, but now the mistake will be corrected by compensating for the overpayment, — says the interlocutor of Izvestia.
According to Dmitry Kiryushkin, scammers, as a rule, do not miss the opportunity to deceive victims. The period after the holidays is a "fertile" time to offer users to apply for microloans before the first salary in the new year. Cybercriminals can contact potential victims through messengers or social networks, as well as distribute payment offers in the comments to posts on major Telegram channels. By swindling bank card data, the attackers will gain access to users' money and stop contacting them.
In turn, Konstantin Larin, head of the cyber intelligence department at Bastion, believes that in 2026 we should expect the development of fraudulent schemes with fake loan refinancing, fake government support through clone sites of the Gosuslugi portal, banks and MFIs, the use of hacked microloan services, as well as newsletters about temporarily frozen payments with malicious links for theft of data and money.
"The attackers will offer to make quick loans, sometimes hiding behind the names of well—known banks, so that the client may not even realize that he is not dealing with real creditors," notes Alexandra Shmigirilova. — Offers often indicate obviously favorable conditions, because the main goal of scammers is for a potential victim to click on the sent link, go to the site and enter their personal data there.
What fraudulent schemes on the topic of money before payday have you encountered before
The subject of money before payday in January was also used by fraudsters in previous years, focusing on the speed and ease of obtaining funds, says Konstantin Larin. In particular, fake clone websites of MFIs and banks, phone calls and text messages about allegedly "approved" or "won" loans, as well as phishing letters on behalf of the employer with offers of urgent advances were distributed.
"Previously, fake websites, calls, and even account hacking were recorded," adds Sergey Polunin, head of the Gazinformservice IT infrastructure Solutions protection group, in an interview with Izvestia. — There are no fundamentally new schemes, but the level of execution of already known ones is noticeably increasing. Social engineering still reigns supreme in these matters.
According to Alexandra Shmigirilova, fraudulent schemes on the topic of money before payday are aimed primarily at those who did not calculate their financial capabilities and spent more on gifts and entertainment than they had planned. After the New Year holidays, they need to continue living in the usual rhythm: to pay for food, transportation, perhaps a mortgage and other necessary expenses, but there is no money anymore.
It is difficult to borrow from friends and acquaintances, as many people are in a difficult situation in January, so a loan or loan seems to be the only option. If such an offer arouses interest without first verifying the data, the entered personal or financial information may get to the scammers.
"This can lead to various negative consequences, from loss of access to finances and phone blocking to making loans and other obligations using the data obtained," warns Alexandra Shmigirilova.
How to protect yourself from payday-to-payday schemes at the beginning of the year
In order to protect yourself from the January payday fraud schemes, experts interviewed by Izvestia advise following several safety rules. So, according to Alexandra Shmigirilova, it is best to plan your expenses in advance for December and January, leaving a financial reserve for the rest of January until the next full salary. If, however, there is a situation where there is not enough money for the most urgent needs, it is necessary to apply for loans and credits exclusively at the bank itself, through its office or the official mobile application.
— It is important to remember that if a loan is asked to be paid in advance, it is almost certainly a deception, — says Nikita Novikov, an expert on cybersecurity at Angara Security. — Neither a bank nor a legal microfinance organization takes an advance payment and does not apply for loans through messengers. Any service should be checked against official websites and registries.
When making a decision, you need to give yourself a break, the specialist advises. Even a few hours without panic allow you to soberly evaluate the offer and understand that if something looks too good to be true, as a rule, it is not true. In matters of money, haste is the scammers' best ally.
In turn, Alexey Vybornov, an analyst at the Positive Technologies research group, advises carefully checking the recipients of emails and the links contained in them — they may contain viruses or redirect to malicious resources disguised as official websites. This exercise of caution will help to recognize scammers and not replenish the statistics of their victims.
"To reduce risks, it is important to be critical of any offers of "fast" or "easy" money, not to enter personal and payment information on questionable resources, check information on official company websites and use security solutions that will help identify phishing and scam resources in time," concludes Kaspersky Lab senior content analyst" Olga Altukhova.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
