In the modern world, it is unlikely that you will be able to find a person who does not have and has never had an account on the Internet. Social networks have long become a common way to communicate, find friends, establish useful contacts and business correspondence. Unfortunately, as their role in our lives increases, so does the number of scammers, for whom our favorite means of online communication become a platform for financial and other frauds.
In the article we will look at the most popular social network in Russia - vk.com “VKontakte” and figure out what to do to avoid becoming a victim of scammers and how to complain about a scammer in VKontakte if you are already unlucky and your page has been hacked.
How and where to complain about scammers?
There are many scammers using VKontakte.
The VK administration does not regulate the activities of such groups and users and does not check the goods or services that are sold through the social network. The administration’s position is this: they provide a platform, a means of communication, but they do not have the opportunity to verify the transfer of money and the fact of transfer of goods or provision of services. VKontakte is not a store. They don't monitor whether a group (or user) is committing fraud. You yourself, voluntarily, decide to transfer money to someone. If a problem arises (money was transferred - the full amount or an advance payment, but the goods were not sent, the service was not provided, you were deceived and added to the black list), this needs to be dealt with through the police, court or Rospotrebnadzor. You can do this via the Internet:
- Reception of requests from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation
- Receiving applications to Rospotrebnadzor
Only they have the authority to investigate such cases. At an official request from law enforcement agencies or by a court decision, VKontakte will provide them with all possible assistance in finding scammers and may block the scammer’s group or page.
To send a complaint to a page, VK has a standard “Complain” function. In this case, you must indicate the reason for the complaint: “Fraud.” However, remember that VKontakte is not a law enforcement agency, and blocking a page will not stop a criminal. The mere fact of filing a complaint or complaints does not mean that this page will be blocked. When faced with fraud, you need to not only complain about the page, but also file a complaint with the police. VK will not do this for you. And of course, VK will not look for the scammer and return your money.
What happens if you complain about a page on VK?
If the reason for the complaint sent is truly significant, then the employees of the social network will definitely take appropriate measures. Moderators pay close attention to every complaint. Not only user messages are considered, but also their accounts with actions. If several complaints are received against one user, his profile may be deleted altogether. Such an account cannot be restored. The time required for a moderator to check a complaint usually takes no more than 5-6 hours. If moderation staff recognize the submitted complaint as unfounded, the account will not be blocked. Even if many complaints were sent to his profile. The administration of the social network will not ban a page without checking it.
Read more: is it possible to find a fraudster and punish him, return the money?
Of course, you want the fraudster to be found as quickly as possible and punished, as well as to return your money. But let's see if the VC administration can do anything.
When you find a product on VK, you buy it in the same way as if you bought it through an ad. You yourself negotiate with the seller about payment and delivery and you yourself must understand that he may turn out to be a fraudster. This is not an online store, but a social network where any user can write anything, including a message about the sale of a product. No one controls such a seller, and he usually does not give you any documents confirming payment and guaranteeing the quality of the goods.
Let’s imagine: VK receives a complaint in which a person asks to block another person’s page on the grounds that he is a fraudster. Let's say VK does this. How will this stop the scammer? He will create exactly the same page in five minutes and will continue to deceive people.
See also
- They wrote to me that I won an iPhone. This is true?
The problem is that it is difficult to check whether it is a scammer or not. Of course, you know for sure that you were deceived, but why should they believe you?
Let's compare two situations:
- You transferred the money to the seller and received the goods.
- You transferred money and received nothing.
Inside VK there is no information about the movement of money or goods. Therefore, it is difficult to figure out who is right. What evidence do you have that you sent money? Let's say it's a screenshot from online banking, but it's easy to fake. To actually check this, you need to find out about the movement of funds through accounts in a bank or payment system. No one will give such information to the VK administration. But make sure you have a paper receipt or bank statement.
Does the seller have proof that he sent you the goods? You say: he had to send the goods by mail, let him show the receipt! However, the seller may answer that you called and he delivered the goods to you personally (or sent by courier). Remember: when you bought a product through an ad on VK and received it in person, did you sign somewhere? Thus, in both situations there is no simple and objective evidence of the honesty of both the seller and the buyer.
So, it is very difficult to verify such trading. Fraudsters take advantage of people's naivety and scam them out of hundreds a day. People themselves understand the risk, but, attracted by the low price or something else, they continue to send money to complete strangers.
Perhaps you have an idea: let VKontakte find the scammer through the police! In fact, you should contact the police yourself - this is your personal relationship with the person who deceived you. And the VK site, like any other site with advertisements, was only a means of communication. After all, if you were asked to transfer money not on the Internet, but by phone, you would not ask the telephone company to block the deceiver or find him, but would go to the police. Exactly the same here. And when you write a statement to the police, she herself will contact the VK administration and ask for the information she needs about this person.
Can VK help me return the money I sent to the scammer?
No, he can not. You sent money directly to the scammer. He simply wrote to you on VK where to send them. He could send it by mail, say it on the phone, write it on paper or on the fence. The VK administration cannot control in any way what kind of relationship you have with him. Accordingly, she cannot intervene in them either. If VK has any information about a fraudulent user, it can only be released to law enforcement agencies.
We all complained about the scammer, but he was not blocked. Why?
Because it is impossible to decide by voting whether a person is a fraudster or not. You and your friends sent a bunch of complaints, and on this basis they should block him? What if this is a conscientious person? Do you think this should be determined by the number of complaints? No, it doesn't work that way.
The number of complaints does not affect whether the page is blocked or not. Calling a person a fraud is a serious matter and is not decided by a popular vote.
The “Report” function with the “Fraud” option works well when the fraud is obvious - for example, some popular product is offered that is clearly ten times cheaper than its real price, or someone is “raffling off ten iPhones” and asks to pay for delivery (and everyone who wanted to win). In other cases, an investigation is required. As explained above, the VC does not conduct investigations. They are dealt with by law enforcement agencies. In any case, you will hardly harm a real scammer if you simply get his page or group blocked. He prepared for this and will make a new one. Or already did.
useful links
- How to contact the police about fraud
- How to return money stolen by scammers
Punishment for fraud
The legislator created Article No. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for punishment for fraudulent actions. For violation of the law, not only a fine of 5,000 rubles is provided, but also criminal liability. The extent of the punishment depends on the severity of the crime. For illegal sale of goods or fraud with money, a fine of up to 120,000 rubles or imprisonment for a period of 2 years may be imposed.
Blocking a VKontakte group or account
Cases for which they may be blocked:
- The scam in the photo of the VK girl is aimed at the male part of the population.
- If an Internet user saw a beautiful picture and visited the site, and for this action money was automatically withdrawn from his account - this is a crime.
- When fraudulent actions came from a group on a social network, the first thing you need to do is contact the administration.
- If fraud is confirmed, this will lead to the blocking of a group or a specific account.
Complaint to the administration of the social network
Filing a complaint online will not be a problem.
All actions of the administration are based on Russian legislation. First, resource employees find out whether there really is a case of deception or blackmail. After all, people can often slander others for personal reasons. If you have any questions, you can consult for free via chat with a lawyer at the bottom of the screen or call by phone (consultation is free), we work around the clock.
The claim is filled out in free form and sent to the administration for consideration. As a rule, this is a short process and the person will definitely receive feedback. The procedure is transparent, because the site’s management is interested in having only honest users on their resource and not tarnishing their reputation.
What does the VKontakte administration say about scammers?
Here is the official position of the VKontakte administration, which can be found in the help system:
I was deceived, or how to deal with scammers
VKontakte is a huge platform that includes, among other things, many representative offices of retail outlets.
We provide the right to use our site, but we cannot physically verify the integrity of all merchants. So, we do not have access to payment and gaming systems, or postal items. We do not have the tools to confirm or deny the timely delivery and quality of the product. We wrote more about such situations and our position on them here. If something irreparable does happen, contact law enforcement immediately. You can write an application in person at the department at your place of residence or on the Ministry of Internal Affairs website: mvd.ru/request_main. If you do not live in Russia, you can contact the authorities at your place of residence - we have practice of participating in international affairs.
(source)
According to the link contained in this answer, the VKontakte support team writes that they are often confused with the police, and that this should not be done:
There is a group that sells, for example, handbags, requiring advance payment. Let’s omit here all my thoughts about the naivety of those who send money to a stranger on parole (we have written about this more than once before), but after being deceived by the seller, you come to us and ask us to block the scammers. Although much more often - return the money. In this case, only the police can help. We do not conduct investigations, do not block “on suspicion”, and cannot return money to you that you voluntarily gave to some person. Fraud is a crime, and only authorized persons can investigate the activities of fraudsters.
(source)
If I suffered from a scammer, will the VK administration give me his phone number and other data?
No never. But VK cooperates with law enforcement agencies and provides information upon their official request. Contact the police with what you have. The rest is their job.
Methods for checking a VKontakte page for fraud
To recognize a scammer, you need to take a few simple steps:
- Visit the object's page and view information about it. The lack of friends on the page or posts should already be alarming.
- If any services are offered, it is worth finding out if this person has a website that confirms the activity.
- It is worth conducting an analysis of the contacts and groups in which the suspect is a member.
- Checking page ID and address. To do this, just copy the address bar when you are on the user’s page.
- If you are offered to purchase goods, then it is worth finding out how long this resource has been operating. You often come across fly-by-night online stores. Do not rush to transfer money for goods, do not indicate your card number or PIN code and mobile phone number.
- Read people's reviews. Their absence already indicates, at a minimum, that the product is not in demand.
Never transfer SMS and code from your payment systems to third parties. This applies not only to bank cards, but also to QIWI and other online wallets.
List of scammers on VKontakte
There are many groups on VKontakte that contain lists and names of accounts that have been found to deceive users. If you suspect that a new contact is a scammer, you can check him using these groups. Information can be found on this page: https://vk.com/scamlist.
The seller sends his passport, can you trust him?
All scammers who show you a passport are showing you NOT THEIR PASSPORT and NOT THEIR PHOTO. They stole documents and photos from ordinary social network users: either after “hacking” their pages, or lured them out under the pretext of “getting a job.” That is, documents and photos of ordinary people are used to create “sellers” pages. These innocent people themselves do not even suspect that scammers are acting on their behalf. The documents of the same person are not used for a long time, because thanks to human naivety, scammers keep creating new ones, so there is no point in compiling a list of them and distributing them.
What to do with scammers who sell counterfeits, forgeries, fakes, and replicas of VKontakte?
Advertising of counterfeit goods, in particular, counterfeit clothing and shoes, is common on VK. There are known advertisements for counterfeit shoes from Ecco, Salomon, Columbia, Timberland (usually the ad indicates a large discount, for example, 70%). Advertising links lead to sites like salomon-discount.com, about which there are many reviews of victims on the Internet. Such sites often contain the details of the organizations TorgService LLC, Online Retail LLC (Cheboksary), Millhouse LLC (Moscow).
The advertising rules do NOT prohibit sellers from posting such advertising:
The VK position on this matter is as follows:
Unfortunately, we do not regulate the activities of such groups. Likewise, we do not check the products in the stores that we stock. We provide a platform, but do not take on the functions of the police or Rospotrebnadzor.
If you were deceived in this way and sent a fake, you will have to solve the problem through law enforcement agencies, as described above.
When complaints are made
VK management has established clear rules regarding posts posted within the social network. Thus, the following are strictly prohibited:
- publications of photo and video materials that contribute to the development of suicidal tendencies and encourage self-harm
- content promoting harassment and extremism
- content that contains erotic scenes involving minors, pornography
- materials that can be regarded as propaganda
- drug use
- photo and video recordings 18+
- posts and other materials that can discredit honor and dignity, aimed at humiliating specific people or certain categories of the population.
If you find a post whose content seems inappropriate to you and falls under one of the above points, you can file a complaint against the VK group that published it. If such posts are systematically posted, the management of the social network will block it.
How to complain about a post in a VKontakte group
If you see an offensive or inappropriate post in one of the VK communities, you can notify the site management about it. Below are step-by-step instructions on how to do this:
- Hover your mouse over the “…” button located in the upper right corner of the post
- A pop-up window will appear with the option “Complain”, click on it
- A context menu will open asking you to select a reason.
If you ignore this action, your request will be automatically marked as spam and proper action will not be taken to resolve it.
After you report a community post, the social network's moderators will review it.
If the content really violates the site rules or is unacceptable, it will be deleted.
Administrators of the page that published this post will receive a written warning from VK management. A repetition of such an incident will result in blocking. It can be temporary or final.
How to complain about a VKontakte group
A number of communities and public pages purposefully publish prohibited posts in order to provoke heated discussions and indignation among users. They parasitize on people’s emotionality and post exclusively scandalous materials. In this case, you need to complain not about a specific post, but about the entire public.
Step-by-step instructions on how to complain about a VKontakte group:
- Hover your mouse over the button with your photo located in the upper right corner of the screen
- A context menu will appear in which you must select the line “Help”
- A new window will open containing a variety of useful information for users of the social network. Find the “Communities” section
- Point to the active link “How to complain about a VK group”
- Click on the appropriate button.
After completing these steps, you will automatically be redirected to a new window where you must provide links to a public page that publishes prohibited materials, as well as to a specific post that offends the feelings of users. In the top field, you should describe your problem in detail, describing the activities of the page.
This format for sending requests to the Support Service is suitable if you want to complain about a VKontakte group for fraud. It is no secret that a number of communities are commercial in nature and are engaged in the sale of goods and services.
If you become a victim of an unscrupulous seller, you can protect your rights by filing a petition in this way. After reviewing your question, the Support Service staff will contact you to notify you of their decision. Typically, applications are processed within three to seven business days.
Is it possible to report a public page from a mobile device?
A user can encounter inappropriate recordings or materials while using a mobile gadget or smartphone. Is it possible to quickly file a complaint in this situation? Yes, but not using the official VK application
Step-by-step instructions on how to complain about a group on VK from your phone:
- Open any browser on your device
- Go to the official VK website
- Log in to the system by entering your username and password.
Next, you need to use the complaint method described above for computers and laptops. It is noteworthy that using a mobile application, a user can only block a page that, in his opinion, is inappropriate, but not complain about it.
Can VK management ignore the request?
Unfortunately, situations where complaints remain unconsidered are quite common. If your request was ignored, you can send a statement to external control bodies, for example, Roskomnadzor, the prosecutor's office or the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Fraudulent competitions and sweepstakes
Such competitions are solely the responsibility of the administrators of the groups who conduct them and the users who participate in them. VK cannot conduct an investigation in each specific case and find out whether the drawing was conducted fairly, whether the prize was delivered to the winner, and so on.
We talked about one of the most common methods of deception used by scammers here: Won a prize (iPhone) in a competition. Is this a scam, a scam?
It is recommended simply not to participate in any dubious competitions. No one can guarantee you their honesty. Also, don’t forget that free cheese can only be found in a mousetrap.
