Bank of Russia identifies over 5,700 pyramid schemes and illegal financial service providers in 2023
In 2023, the regulator identified 15.5% more pyramid schemes and illegal financial service providers than a year before.
As compared to 2022, 46% more pyramid schemes and 9% more illegal lenders were identified. Additionally, the number of illegal participants in the securities market decreased by almost 30%.
The majority of fraudulent projects and illegal companies promoted themselves via social networks and messengers, most of them operated only remotely. To identify them, the Bank of Russia continued to improve the information space monitoring system.
Last year, access to more than 11,200 illegal internet resources was limited on the regulator’s initiative. Over 3,000 pages, channels and chat bots on the social networks VK, Odnoklassniki and Telegram were blocked as well.
In 2023, information on more than 2,000 legal entities and individual entrepreneurs with signs of financial pyramids and illegal schemes was recorded in the Know Your Customer Platform. Banks may prevent such clients from conducting operations and apply other measures of anti-money laundering legislation.
In 2023, law enforcement agencies, based on information provided by the regulator, opened more than 125 criminal cases against illegal financial service providers and pyramid scheme organisers.