The Ministry of Internal Affairs named the reason for the fraudsters' interest in corporate numbers.

Fraudsters seek to take over corporate numbers in order to gain control over the entire internal communications of the company, rather than individual phones. This was announced on October 20 by the Department for the organization of the fight against the illegal use of information and communication technologies (UBK) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

"Corporate numbers are a much more attractive target for scammers. Thus, the attackers gain access not to individual phones, but to the entire internal communications of the company," the department's Telegram channel says.

The Interior Ministry clarified that the key element of corporate communications is the so-called "master SIM" — the main SIM card on which the corporate number is registered and to which the virtual PBX is connected. All calls, redirects, and employee messages go through it.

"If a fraudster receives a duplicate of this card, he actually becomes an administrator of the corporate network: he can manage calls and messages, change settings, and even control the company's personal account with the operator," the cyber police added.

For attacks, attackers use forged documents — a passport or a power of attorney — to issue a duplicate SIM card from the operator. After activating the new card, the original is blocked, and all corporate communications are temporarily under the control of fraudsters.

As noted in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the interception of the "master SIM" allows attackers to access SMS with confirmation codes for logging into banking services, send phishing messages on behalf of the company, and even withdraw funds from corporate PBX accounts.

The agency recommends that organizations strengthen their security measures: enable notifications of changes from the operator, use two-factor authentication, and limit the number of employees authorized to request duplicate SIM cards. In case of sudden loss of communication at corporate numbers, you should contact the operator immediately. It is noted that cases of "duplicate SIM cards" have already been recorded in several regions of Russia.

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On October 18, State Duma deputy Anton Nemkin warned of an increase in the number of fraud cases related to fake job offers and training. According to him, the attackers demand copies of passports and bank cards from the victims under the pretext of paperwork, which leads to the theft of personal data and funds.

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