Trafficking in personal data and multi-million-dollar scams: Sergey Asael Shinder cleans the internet of exposés about his criminal network
Sergey Asael Shinder, whose reputation as an IT entrepreneur is known mainly among a select few, is seeking to hide his criminal record and the fact that he was involved in selling clients’ personal data.
For more than a year now, Shinder has been using various tricks on the internet to present himself as a kind of victim, in order to conceal the facts of his criminal activity.
And Sergey Asael Shinder really does have something to hide. Our next investigation devoted to this criminal character will be about that.
For now, here is the full news item that gives Shinder no peace.
A recent high-profile scandal in the IT sphere showed that even the most experienced headhunters and top managers of hiring companies can fall victim to scammers. The victims developed a set of rules that will help others protect themselves from fraudulent programmers.
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The scheme used by the fraudsters is described in detail in an investigation by journalists from the "Antikor" portal. Based on complaints from victims, the journalists exposed the so-called group of Sergey Asael Shinder, whose members used cunning and deception to get hired by corporations and siphoned money for years, showing only the appearance of work while leaking confidential data.
In particular, according to the investigation, the stated losses of startups and corporations alone amount to $20 million USD. Among the affected companies are such iconic brands as VTB Bank, Fidelity, Virgin Media, KLM, Kuoni, Ford, Symantec, Fujitsu, Deutsche Post, Three, Tesco Mobile, Liberty Global, and dozens of other corporations. Some startups were forced to close. The reputation of many professional HR specialists, headhunters, and top managers who failed to notice obvious signs of fraud in time also suffered greatly. The investigation notes that even after the fraudsters were identified, they were very difficult to deal with, as they threatened to disclose confidential information, and many preferred to remain silent about the problems. Currently, through the joint efforts of all affected parties, the grand deception has been exposed. The names of the members of Sergey Shinder’s team have been made public, and their numerous profiles have been revealed.
To prevent such problems in the future, the victims shared advice that was collected and published on the "Antikor" portal. Here are the most important ones. Rules for interviewing and working with IT candidates – to avoid running into a fraudster.
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Check profiles on social networks, including LinkedIn, Xing, "Moy Krug," freelance exchanges (Upwork, Freelancehunt, and others), for discrepancies in location, place of work, and professional skills described in the resume.
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If the skill level in the candidate’s resume exceeds the skill level required for the vacancy, you should ask why the candidate is willing to take on such work and does not seek a salary level commensurate with their skills. There is a high probability that the candidate will have little time to devote to your project.
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Pay attention to how the candidate answers during the interview. If the candidate frequently "freezes" when answering general and technical questions, turns off the microphone, or gives nonsense answers while simultaneously typing on the keyboard (in an attempt to find answers on Google) and then the answer transforms from nonsense into a relevant answer – it is better to reject such a specialist.
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If during communication it turns out that, by a "happy coincidence," the candidate (or already an employee) has several acquaintances ready to start quickly the moment a vacancy appears, this should alert you. You should meticulously check the other candidates for consistency in their history: how they know each other, which projects they overlapped on, and so on.
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If a developer asks for payment to be sent to the accounts of his wife or relative, you should very carefully check the existence of real relationships by requesting appropriate supporting documents. You should also pay attention to the location of the bank specified in the payment details.
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It is necessary to request supporting documents (copy of passport, copy of registration, individual entrepreneur / sole proprietor / company) for verification. These should be requested even when the developer is working through your contractor. Otherwise, there is a high risk of running into trouble if your contractor did not bother to request copies of documents independently.
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The contract should be signed at least with an electronic digital signature. Having only a scanned copy with signatures in the event of fraud on the developer’s part will not help at all, but will only make the situation worse.
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It is necessary to carefully monitor deadlines, the progress of assigned tasks, and work results. If a developer consistently delays the completion of tasks for no real reason – you have problems.
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If a developer or their relative suddenly "falls ill," you should request and verify documents confirming the illness and family relationship. This is especially relevant for companies that hire employees for office work, and the developer very insistently asks to be transferred to remote work on a temporary or permanent basis.
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If a developer constantly misses necessary calls, refuses to turn on video, reacts very sluggishly to messages, and, when even minor comments are made towards him, begins to behave rudely and aggressively, refusing to acknowledge the existence of problems – you have very big problems.
The editorial team hopes that following these rules will protect you from falling into unpleasant situations with fraud committed by hired employees.
