Phishing Sites Target Nearly 90% of Major Russian Companies

According to experts at BI.ZONE, between 70% and 90% of large Russian companies have fallen victim to cybercriminals who create phishing websites using well-known brand names. The most popular targets for these scammers are major financial organizations.

Data shows that 70% of Russian companies leading the Forbes list by net profit have been targeted by such fraudsters. Criminals copy the websites of organizations in Russia’s top employers list even more frequently—over 73% of these companies have been impersonated. For the most popular employers among job seekers, the number is even higher, with nearly 87% of their sites being faked.

Financial Brands Are the Main Target

As previously mentioned, phishers most often use the brands of large financial organizations. Malicious “clones” exist for 90% of the top banks in the customer rating, which is based on user reviews. The number of phishing sites depends on each bank’s popularity and several other factors. Experts say that criminals can create several hundred fake resources for a single company in just one month.

How Phishing Sites Work

Most phishing sites disguised as company pages aim to collect users’ personal data: full names, phone numbers, email addresses, and more. Often, these sites offer to take a survey, supposedly to improve service quality, gain access to a service, or participate in a promotion. There are also cases where criminals copy login pages. This method is used less frequently and is mainly intended to steal banking credentials, giving scammers access to victims’ payment information.

Entertainment Sites and Topical Scams

In addition to company websites, criminals often fake entertainment resources. To make their phishing attempts more convincing, they use current events and trends. For example, at the height of the popularity of the TV series “Slovo Patsana” in November–December 2023, scammers created nearly 400 themed websites.

Phishing Remains a Serious Threat

“In 2023, we identified nearly 212,000 phishing sites aimed at stealing sensitive data, and in January and February 2024 alone—almost 41,000. All this shows that phishing remains a serious threat. Criminals especially try to fake bank resources, since stealing money from users is the most obvious way for them to profit,” commented Dmitry Kiryushkin, Head of BI.ZONE Brand Protection.