Russian consumer safety organization Roskachestvo has warned citizens of a seasonal fraud scheme offering fake 90 per cent discounts on school supply kits ahead of 1 September.
Cybercriminals are targeting parents and students across social networks and messaging platforms as families prepare for the upcoming academic year. Experts from the Center for Digital Expertise at Roskachestvo explained to news outlet RT that scammers urge users to take short surveys to receive promotional codes for discounted backpacks filled with stationery, as well as electronic tablets.
After completing the survey questions, victims are asked to log in using their social media or messenger accounts to obtain the discount code. The fraudulent websites then request a small payment to allegedly reserve the items or cover delivery fees. Entering credit or debit card details allows the scammers to withdraw all available money from the account. Alternatively, authorizing through social media grants attackers direct control over the victim's account.
How the discount fraud works
Sergey Kuzmenko, who serves as the head of the Center for Digital Expertise at Roskachestvo, warned that messages promising high-value gifts or steep price reductions for answering survey questions are almost always fraudulent traps.
Kuzmenko advised consumers never to follow links provided in unexpected survey messages or enter financial details on unverified pages. He noted that the only safe way to verify whether a promotion is genuine is to open a web browser and manually type in the web address of the official retail store to check if the offer is listed there.
Growing cyber threats and consumer risks
The warning comes ahead of Russia's annual Knowledge Day on 1 September, which marks the start of the primary and secondary school year nationwide. The period leading up to the new term sees millions of families buying educational materials, making school supplies a popular lure for online fraud.
Roskachestvo, officially established as the Russian Quality System, is Russia's national consumer monitoring agency. Its specialized Center for Digital Expertise regularly investigates online security hazards, phishing schemes, and malicious mobile applications targeting consumers.
The organization previously highlighted another online threat where fraudsters impersonated technical support employees from the messaging service Telegram. In that scam, attackers attempted to intimidate users into handing over account credentials by threatening them with immediate account termination.
