Cyber frauds rarer, but larger

As of the end of last year and from the beginning of 2022, the percentage of social engineering in the total number of thefts from individuals had been declining. Nevertheless, in July—September, the dynamics reversed, especially in online payments for goods and services. During the period of the pandemic, consumers have got used to online purchases, and cybercriminals continue to make use of it. They create fake websites of financial institutions or popular stores to deceive people.

The Bank of Russia initiated the blocking of 3,932 illegal websites in Q3 and over 10,000 during the first nine months of the year, which is almost 68% more than a year before. The dynamics of social engineering, that is, when people themselves transfer funds or divulge bank card details to fraudsters, directly affect the amount of funds reimbursed by banks to clients: in Q3, reimbursements made 3.4% (134.3 million rubles) of the total amount of the money stolen.

‘Currently, banks are not legally obliged to reimburse funds in such cases. The Bank of Russia, jointly with market participants and experts, proposes changes to the legislation to make it possible for people to receive a reimbursement even when they were deluded and thus transferred the money to criminals’ accounts. Such a draft law is already under consideration at the State Duma,’ commented Vadim Uvarov, Director of the Bank of Russia’s Information Security Department.

In 2022 Q3, the Bank of Russia also initiated the blocking of over 280,000 telephone numbers used for illegal actions, which is 10 times more than last year. In most cases, cybercriminals called people from mobile phones.

Protection of individuals against fraudsters will be among the key issues at the Ural Forum Cybersecurity in finance.