Deputies argued with the Supreme Court about toughening penalties for fraud against the elderly

“People don’t have much hope for banks”

A bill has been introduced to the State Duma to toughen penalties for fraud against persons over 60 years of age. The authors of the initiative proposed to classify the elderly age of the victim as aggravating circumstances under the relevant article of the Criminal Code.

Previously, the Russian government gave a negative response to the bill. “The aggravating circumstance in relation to citizens 60+ states only the fact that the victim has reached a certain age and does not directly indicate his special vulnerability or insecurity, as a result of which an attack on such a victim should entail a more severe punishment,” Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court S. explained his withdrawal of the bill. IN. Rudakov on September 6, 2023.

Nevertheless, the authors of the bill insist on their own, considering the proposal to be relevant.

– Every third victim of scammers is an elderly person. “You can’t imagine how difficult it is to look into the eyes of a pensioner whose apartment has been taken away by scammers and forced to take out a huge loan to save someone,” Vice Speaker of the State Duma Vladislav Davankov (“New People”) told MK. – People come to me with such complaints more and more often. Therefore, I introduced a bill to the State Duma to recognize fraud against people over 60 years of age as an aggravating circumstance. Retribution must be not only inevitable, but also very serious. So that everyone thinks three times before robbing people of their last savings.

According to him, scammers often pose as bank employees and convince pensioners to transfer money to their cards. At the same time, it is almost impossible to return them, because the transfer is made “voluntarily”.

– People don’t have much hope for banks. It is almost impossible to return money that you yourself “voluntarily” transferred to scammers: last year, less than 5% of the stolen funds were returned to victims. This means that we need to seriously tighten the punishment for those who have absolutely nothing sacred. The government believes that scammers do not always take into account the age of the victim. A crime against a defenseless or helpless person is already classified as aggravating circumstances. We do not agree with these arguments. Not all older people are sick and helpless. But many people do not get along well with the Internet, filter information worse, and are more likely to trust attackers.

In recent years, crimes committed against persons who have reached retirement age have become more frequent, especially in the area of ​​fraud.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, in 2021, 17% of cybercrimes were committed against old-age pensioners.