Bank of Russia detects over 4,000 fraudulent and illegal schemes in 2025 H1
The number of identified financial pyramids and other illegal schemes rose by 20% compared to 2024 H1.
Over 88% of detected financial pyramids and illegal brokers offered clients investments in fake investment schemes. The Bank of Russia revealed 2,300 online Ponzi schemes in 2025 H1.
‘The number of financial pyramids increased by 1.4 times year on year. However, their lifespan has become shorter, and the Bank of Russia is able to detect them much more quickly’, says Ilya Kochetkov, Director of the Non-bank Lending Department.
The number of illegal lenders decreased more than twofold, with over 460 such companies being identified in 2025 H1. The regulator also revealed almost 1,400 fake brokers.
Fraudsters often create several related schemes under different brands to avoid site blocking. Between January and June, the Bank of Russia initiated the blocking of 11,000 online resources owned by scammers. Half of such sites were structured in a similar way.
In 2025 H1, based on information provided by the Bank of Russia, law enforcement agencies opened more than 200 administrative cases for the illegal provision of consumer loans and took more than 300 other response measures.
More details are available in the Bank of Russia’s analytical material.