Disconnection: Russia may introduce a self-ban on issuing SIM cards
Russians will have the opportunity to introduce a self-ban on issuing SIM cards, and they will be able to use this option at Public Services, the Ministry of Finance told Izvestia. However, the details of the bill are still being worked out. How the new measure will protect people from scammers and how they now receive and use other people's SIM cards — in the material of the publication.
Self-locking on registration
The Ministry of Finance told Izvestia that a government bill aimed at protecting against cyberbullying is being prepared for adoption by the State Duma. This is a voluminous document, which includes about 30 measures. Among them is the opportunity for citizens to install a self—lock on the registration of SIM cards without personal presence at Gosuslugi.
"This is necessary so that attackers cannot register a SIM card in an illegal way in the name of an unsuspecting person and use it for fraudulent purposes," the press service noted. — The details of the bill are still being worked out.
Dmitry Grigorenko, Deputy Prime Minister and Chief of Staff of the Government of the Russian Federation, also said during a meeting between the president and members of the government that a service could appear in Russia that would allow self—locking of SIM cards.
"Very often, fraudsters use SIM cards issued to other citizens, and at the same time, registration takes place through the personal data of citizens," Grigorenko said.
He noted that often during the investigation of cases there is a situation when the alleged phone number turns out to be "actually stolen."
The Deputy Prime Minister also proposed a self-ban on phone spam calls and SMS mailings. In his opinion, such a measure would help in the fight against fraud.
"The point is to get in touch and start a conversation with a citizen. Our citizens are used to these SMS newsletters, and initially they don't seem to arouse suspicion. Accordingly, self—locking will make it possible to completely eliminate this rule by pressing just a few keys," concluded Dmitry Grigorenko.
Protection Tool
The office of Dmitry Grigorenko, Deputy Prime Minister and Chief of Staff of the Government of the Russian Federation, explained that the bill is aimed at, on the one hand, giving people tools for self-defense. On the other hand, to deprive scammers of the opportunity to use their methods of deception.
—Self-locking (...) blocks one of the most widespread fraud schemes, when intruders steal personal data of citizens and issue SIM cards to them, which they then use in their schemes to deceive," the deputy Prime Minister's office told Izvestia. — As a result, when law enforcement agencies launch an investigation, they contact the passport data holder, who often does not even know that his data has been used for criminal purposes. This creates problems for both the victims and the investigation.
Thus, the device added, even if fraudsters gain access to a person's passport data, they will not be able to register a SIM card for him in order to use it in their frauds. This ban can only be lifted in person at the MFC.
An important measure
As Alla Khrapunova, an expert of the Popular Front for Borrowers' Rights project and curator of the Moshelovka platform, says in an interview with Izvestia, the self-ban on issuing SIM cards has been discussed for a long time. This initiative is finally reflected in draft law No. 842276-8, which provides for the introduction of an opportunity for citizens to independently establish a ban on concluding contracts for the provision of services to mobile operators using the Gosuslugi portal.
— Today, almost every deception begins with a phone call, — says Khrapunova. — This means that fraudsters need a huge number of cards for this. According to the expert community, in 2024, the number of attacks by telephone scammers increased many times. In March last year, more than 20 million fraud calls were received daily by citizens of our country. By the end of the year, their number had dropped to 5-6 million, but this figure is also enormous.
In general, she notes, the government has already taken a number of measures to counteract fraudulent calls: in particular, a limit has been introduced on the number of cards that each citizen can issue. For migrants, for example, the limit is 10 pieces.
The Ministry of Finance also recalled that on April 1, the norm of the law "On Communications" comes into force in Russia, according to which operators are required to notify their subscribers of the conclusion of new contracts with them. Citizens have the opportunity to find out about all SIM cards registered on them through the Gosuslugi website, as well as inform the operator about their disagreement with the conclusion of the contract, suspend the provision of services for a specific subscriber number, or terminate the contract.
"This will make it easier for users to control the processes related to the execution of communication contracts," the ministry concluded. — Self-locking for the purchase of SIM cards is the next step in this direction. We should add that a number of telecom operators also already offer their customers a card replacement protection service.
Schemes with SIM cards
As Alexander Samsonov, a leading expert in the development and testing department of the Security Code company, says in an interview with Izvestia, many fraudulent schemes are being built on phone calls today. Under various pretexts, criminals convince people to transfer money and provide their data to access financial and government services. At the same time, for various reasons, it is a telephone conversation — and not, for example, messages in instant messengers — that more often makes people "bite" the bait.
Today, scammers have several ways to get someone else's SIM card. In the first case, unscrupulous employees of mobile operators help them, in the second, people give away or sell SIM cards themselves.
— Anyway, all you need to get a SIM card is a passport, — adds Alla Khrapunova. — It or a copy of it can be forged, and on-site inspections of managers are not always effective. In addition, the card can be issued remotely by completing identification through Gosuslugi. Hackers gaining access to a personal account on the portal, which is now a trend, may have such consequences.
According to her, the self-locking option for issuing SIM cards will help to mitigate the risks associated with the human factor, the dishonesty of managers in communication salons and gaining control over the personal account of services. The main thing is that mobile operators should be "as scrupulous in inspections when concluding contracts as financial organizations, and the punishment of mobile operators for misconduct should be as serious as in the case of self-locking."
— This means that the government needs to prescribe in the law not only the fact that it is possible to ban the issue of SIM cards, but also the responsibility of operators. For example, if the operator allowed a SIM card to be issued and fraudsters used it, the telecom operator reimburses the victim for all losses. Otherwise, there may be no effect," concluded the interlocutor of Izvestia.
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