Fraudsters began to use a new scheme to deceive novice investors, Sberbank warned. The attackers call potential victims, pose as investment advisers of the Moscow Exchange and offer to buy shares that give a high percentage of profit, TASS reports.
“It is often novice investors who are phoned – many of them are trying to make money on minute fluctuations in the market, and therefore it is easier to convince them,” Sberbank warned. Scammers also offer to open an account through a “safe” link, while the payment window appears to be very similar to the form of a real bank or broker, and the difference is very difficult to notice.
Sberbank recalled that employees of the Moscow Exchange do not have the right to call investors and give them any advice. Moreover, the Moscow Exchange itself does not sell securities to individuals: it interacts with private investors only through intermediaries (for example, banks or brokerage companies). To avoid becoming a victim of scammers, the bank recommends not to respond to messages from strangers and not to follow the links they send.
The law on the categorization of investors, according to which the latter are divided into qualified and unskilled, was adopted in the summer of 2020. According to it, retail investors will be tested by their brokers. Some instruments will not be available to unqualified people, for example, shares of foreign companies included in the calculation of at least one foreign stock index from the regulator’s list.
In February 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about the need to protect the money of inexperienced players on the exchange. Putin pointed out that against the background of a decrease in deposit rates, other forms of investment are becoming popular, in particular, the purchase of securities. “And this, by definition, is more risky than bank deposits. It is necessary to protect the interests of people who invest their money in the securities market, but who are not professional investors,” he said.