The Russians were alarmed by the “blocking of all transfers over 10,000 rubles”
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Authorities are looking for the perfect formula to protect money from scammers
At the last meeting of the Expert Council for the Protection of the Rights of Consumers of Financial Services at the Bank of Russia, in order to protect against fraudsters, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation proposed blocking transfers of citizens over 10 thousand rubles on special intermediate escrow accounts. If the offer were accepted, then in order to unfreeze such a transfer or when receiving loans that are issued without the consent of the client, Russians would need to enter additional identification or a fixed PIN code.
However, the regulator did not support this idea. Does this mean that the Russians again remain defenseless in the face of financial fraudsters?
Maria, who lives in Dolgoprudny, is a 28-year-old cosmetics saleswoman in one of the chain stores, and is a client of two large Russian state-owned banks at once. In early August, her phone received a call from a number that partially matches the number of the credit department of one of these banks.
The woman was informed that she now had a new phone number “linked” to the name of an unknown lady in her personal account, and she had also received a loan for 450 thousand rubles, but it had not yet been finally transferred to her. After talking with the “representative” of the credit department, the woman was transferred to the “representative of the Central Bank”, who continued to communicate in instant messengers, wrote everything in a business style and even sent “bank-like” non-disclosure documents. The woman was treated for more than two hours.
As a result, they persuaded her to take this loan herself, go to the bank, withdraw all the money and transfer it to the “secure account of the Central Bank” so that the “dummy lady” would not get it, “until the investigator understands the situation.” Frightened and confused, Maria did just that, only realizing on the way back home that she had become a victim of scammers.
Similar stories are full of social networks and reports of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 2022, the Bank of Russia recorded an increase in fraud attacks, which became even more active during a difficult economic period for the country. According to the mega-regulator, in the first quarter of 2022 they stole 3.3 billion rubles from Russians, which is almost 14% more than in the same period last year. Most of these crimes are still committed using social engineering tools – in 2022 their share in the total number of offenses was 52.5%. Against this background, a proposal was made by the Expert Council of the Central Bank to block transfers of citizens over 10 thousand rubles on intermediate escrow accounts. With the best of intentions: so that the money does not go to the adventurers until the victim understands the situation.
Analysts immediately pointed out that the innovation would entail additional costs for both banks and customers, because the amount of 10 thousand rubles is very popular for transfers. “Of course, dynamic escrow accounts will not solve the problem of fraud, when the victim is forced to transfer borrowed funds to third parties or when a loan is issued in her name without the knowledge and consent to this,” explains one of the authors of the initiative, the head of the ONF project “For the Rights of Borrowers » Evgenia Lazareva. “However, we believe that, in combination with the self-prohibition on the issuance of a loan or loan offered by the Bank of Russia, this will become a serious obstacle for malefactors and their accomplices from among bank employees and MFIs.” Human rights activists understand that the freezing of transactions over 10,000 rubles can become an element of inconvenience for many consumers: any restrictions cause dissatisfaction. However, the scale of the problem of financial fraud requires decisive action, the expert stressed.
The Central Bank of the Russian Federation understands the concerns of public figures, but proposes to go the other way. The Bank of Russia recalled that the mechanism for confirming transactions has been working for a long time, but does not save, because citizens, “being misled, still confirm money transfers.” The regulator offers to protect the victim’s money. In particular, we are talking about a bill already developed by the Central Bank, which will give victims the opportunity to return funds even in cases of crimes using social engineering methods. This requires the so-called “cooling off period”: within two days, the sender will be able to cancel the transfer. However, there is an opinion that this approach may not work. “It is necessary to fight fraud on the receiving side,” said Sergey Mendeleev, Executive Director of InDeFi Smart Bank. – I received a card from the bank and handed it over to the scammer along with access – please go to jail for 3 years. I declared an income of 30 thousand a month, and received a transfer of 500 thousand – automatic blocking and a couple of months to find out where so much money came from and whether taxes were paid on it. The expert is sure that such an approach can be implemented in a week, if there is a desire.
Newspaper headline:
Fraudsters are afraid of freezing
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