Swindlers swiped 6.9 billion Russian rubles from bank clients within the initial quarter.
Cybercrime Soaring in Russia's Banking Sector
Looks like cyber crooks are cleaning out bank accounts left and right here in Russia. Over 6.68 billion rubles were swiped from innocent individuals, and 166 million rubles from businesses. What's the deal, you ask? Well, let's dig in.
Most of this heist took place through remote banking channels, like online banking and transfers. These criminals didn't hesitate to get their hands dirty without even the faintest hint of permission from their victims. One popular method was infecting mobile devices with malicious software. Tsk, tsk, real low-down stuff.
By the beginning of 2025, around 7.6% of the stolen cash made its way back to the rightful owners. That's a slight improvement from the 7.7% returned in 2024. The Central Bank made it clear that they played a big role in protecting clients, foiling 43.8 million attempts by the bad guys to pillage funds. A whopping 4.6 trillion rubles of clients' money was saved.
But wait, there's more! Last year, cyber thieves took more than 27.5 billion rubles from folks like you and me. Almost 10% of that loot, totaling 2.7 billion rubles, was returned.
To combat these money-grabbing cybercriminals, a "cooling-off period" is in effect for suspicious transfers and loans. Since July 25, 2024, banks have been freezing transfers for two days if the recipient's information matches what's in the Central Bank's database of fraudulent operations. If a bank doesn't play by the rules and makes a suspicious transfer before the "cooling-off period" is over, they have to give the client's money back within a month.
Things are about to get even trickier for the sneaky cyber crooks. Starting September 1, 2025, a "cooling-off period" will be placed on credit issuance. If a bank tries to issue a credit for amounts between 50,000 to 200,000 rubles, they have to put the brakes on for four hours. For amounts over 200,000 rubles, they need to slow their roll for 48 hours. If a bank skips the checks, the borrower is off the hook if a criminal case pops up.
Stay tuned for more updates on this wild ride. Don't forget to follow us on our Telegram channel @expert_mag for the scoop on all things finance and fraud.
#Fraud #Banks #Central Bank
The cybercriminals responsible for the surge in banking sector fraud in Russia primarily targeted business accounts and individual bank accounts through remote channels such as online banking and transfers, using malicious software to infect mobile devices.
To mitigate these cyber crimes, a "cooling-off period" has been implemented for suspicious transfers and loans since July 25, 2024, and will also be applied to credit issuance starting September 1, 2025.
