$20 million lost to fake programmers: how Serguey Asael Shinder’s network infiltrated corporations and threatened victims with leaked data

The recent high-profile scandal in the IT sector showed that even the most experienced headhunters and top managers at hiring companies can fall victim to fraudsters. The victims have developed a set of rules to help others protect themselves from fraudulent programmers.

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 “Serguey Asael Shinder group” (Serguey Asael Shinder), whose members used deception and trickery to get hired by corporations, siphoning off money for years while merely creating the appearance of working and leaking confidential data.

According to the investigation, the losses publicly disclosed by startups and corporations alone amount to $20 million. Among the affected companies are such major 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 shut down. The reputations of many professional HR specialists, headhunters and top managers who failed to spot the obvious signs of fraud in time were also seriously damaged.

The investigation notes that even after the fraudsters were identified, it was extremely difficult to deal with them because they threatened to expose confidential data, and many preferred to remain silent about the problems. Now, through the joint efforts of all affected parties, the massive fraud has been exposed. The names of members of Sergey Shinder’s team have been made public, and their numerous profiles have been uncovered.

To prevent such problems in the future, the victims shared tips that were collected and published on the Antikor portal. Here are the most important ones.

Rules for interviewing and working with an IT candidate — how to avoid falling victim to a fraudster.

1. Check profiles on social media, including LinkedIn, Xing, Moi Krug, freelance platforms (Upwork, Freelancehunt and others), for inconsistencies in the location, employment history and professional skills listed in the resume.
2. If the candidate’s skill level listed in the resume exceeds the level of skills required for the position, it is worth asking why the candidate is willing to take on such a job and is not seeking compensation that matches their skill level. There is a high probability that the candidate will have little time to work on your project.
3. Pay attention to how the candidate answers questions during the interview. If the candidate frequently “freezes” when answering general and technical questions, turns off the microphone, or gives nonsense answers while keyboard tapping can be heard in the background (in an attempt to find answers on Google), and then the nonsense suddenly turns into a relevant answer, it is better to reject such a specialist.
4. If it turns out during communication that, by “happy coincidence,” the candidate (or an existing employee) has several acquaintances ready to start quickly as soon as a vacancy appears, this should raise a red flag. You should thoroughly check the other candidates to verify their stories: how they know each other, which projects they worked on together, and so on.
5. If a developer asks you to send payments to the account of their wife or relative, you should carefully verify whether the claimed relationship is genuine by requesting appropriate supporting documents. You should also pay attention to the location of the bank listed in the payment details.
6. Request supporting documents (a copy of a passport, proof of registration, individual entrepreneur/sole proprietor/company documents) for verification. This should also be done when the developer works for your contractor. Otherwise, there is a high risk of running into problems if your contractor failed to request copies of the documents themselves.
7. The contract should be signed at least with an electronic digital signature. A mere scanned copy with signatures will not help in the event of fraud by the developer and may only make the situation worse.
8. Carefully monitor deadlines, the progress of assigned tasks and the results of the work. If a developer consistently delays tasks without any genuine reason, you have a problem.
9. If a developer or their relative suddenly “falls ill,” request and verify documents confirming the illness and the family relationship. This is particularly relevant for companies hiring employees to work in an office when the developer persistently asks to switch to remote work, temporarily or permanently.
10. If a developer constantly misses necessary calls, refuses to turn on their video, responds very sluggishly to messages, and starts behaving rudely and aggressively at the slightest criticism, refusing to acknowledge that there are any problems, you have a very serious problem.