Belarusians post their bank card details online — all under the guise of a Christmas game

Photo: pickpik.com

The trend in question has also taken over Russia and Kazakhstan, but Belarusians are actively participating in it too. The idea is to post your card number on Threads or leave this number in the comments to similar posts. At the same time, if you want to participate, you need to transfer money to the cards of other participants.

There are now hundreds of such messages on Threads. Users not only leave their card number but also give small explanations of what Christmas gifts they will buy themselves with the transferred money:

"I want a New Year's miracle. Maybe someone here will make me happy, because there's no one else."

"I'm just tired of being a machine; a 33-year-old girl wants to believe in a miracle."

"For a dog's surgery."

"For a Christmas tree up to the ceiling. I want to create a New Year's miracle for my little one."

"Grandma on maternity leave, I want to make my two-year-old grandson happy."

There were also appeals from people who needed not just a gift, but real financial help. For example, they asked for money to buy groceries for Christmas. A single mother who has been raising her son without a father for five years left her comment. Now the little one is 7 years old, and he asked Santa for a dad and a computer — the woman asked for help with money for the latter.

Judging by the comments, some participants do indeed transfer money to others. But, not surprisingly, most people are more inclined to receive transfers than to try their hand at being secret Santas.

Not everyone, however, likes this kind of fun. One Twitter user criticized the campaign:

"People in Belarus have massively lost their minds and are leaking their personal data. How scammers will use it, we will soon find out. Please tell your loved ones not to believe in these miracles."

In reality, it's impossible to access funds on a card by only having its number. Other information is needed for this, which is on the back of the card — for example, its expiration date and CVC/CVV code. But it's still worth being cautious and not leaving even part of the information that could help scammers defraud you in the public domain.

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