Home chats have become a source of data for scammers.

      Technologies that are supposed to simplify life are increasingly being used against citizens themselves. Analysts from the Smart Business Alert (SBA) service of the ESA PRO company have recorded a new trend: fraudsters have begun to use legal lead generation services, typically used by businesses, to find victims, reports the publication "Lenta.ru."

      The scheme works as follows: criminals join housing and neighborhood chats in messengers and use automated systems to track messages containing specific key phrases. The list of triggers, as experts explained, includes: "recommend a plumber," "the intercom is broken," "need an electrician," "who does meter verification," as well as requests for finding a specialist for appliance repair, router installation, pest control, or lock replacement.

      As explained by the service manager Sergey Trukhachev, this tactic significantly saves resources for fraudsters. They no longer need to spend time on cold calls from unknown numbers and convincing a person of their reliability. Instead, the victim signals the problem themselves and then receives the contact of an allegedly verified specialist. Moreover, the recommendation often comes directly from a chat participant who presents themselves as a neighbor. As a result, the person writes or calls the provided number, being confident that they have contacted someone recommended by the residents of their building.

      The most common scam scenario, according to analysts, is related to intercoms. A resident reports a non-working key or the need to install new equipment, they are offered the number of a "master," and then under the pretext of registration or confirming the request, they attempt to obtain a code from an SMS. A similar principle applies to other household requests, including meter verification, appliance repair, and calling cleaning specialists.

      Experts warn that discussions involving the management company pose particular danger. When topics such as recalculating utility payments, emergency work, or scheduled equipment checks are raised in the chat, fraudsters have a ready-made legend for calling on behalf of the management company, dispatch service, or contracting organization.

      Earlier, Newsler.ru reported on a case where a Kirov resident's account in government services was attempted to be hacked through communication in housing chats. At that time, it involved threats and attempts at financial pressure; now, however, the tactic has shifted towards covert monitoring and targeted attacks on specific household requests.

      Experts recommend that residents remain vigilant: if a recommendation from a "neighbor" with a master's number appears instantly in response to your request for help in the chat, it is worth double-checking the information through official dispatch services. And the main rule that will help avoid losing money and data is to never share codes from SMS and passwords with strangers, no matter how convincing their legends may be.