The lawyer gave advice on protecting children from dropper schemes

The problem of involving children and adolescents in dropper schemes requires urgent attention from parents, law enforcement agencies and financial institutions. Denis Tsyplakov, chairman of the VM-Pravo Bar Association, told Izvestia on April 28, commenting on the increase in cases of minors being used in illegal financial transactions.

"Criminal liability for droppery in Russia is not yet clearly defined. Although formally there is Article 187 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on forged payment documents, its application is complicated by vague formulations," the expert noted.

Moreover, so far the authorities are only considering making appropriate changes to the laws, and the prospects for the implementation of these initiatives remain unclear.

The lawyer stressed that not all cases fall under criminal prosecution. For example, if a person accidentally received illegally withdrawn money and returned it, this is not considered a crime — there is no intent. But if the card was handed over for a reward, then this is already complicity.

"It is especially disturbing that children and teenagers, whose ideas about financial security leave much to be desired, are most often in the role of intermediaries. Their easy suggestibility and trust make them an easy target for criminals," the lawyer said.

To protect children, the expert recommends monitoring their online activity using parental control systems, teaching financial literacy, explaining the dangers of "easy money" and using children's banking products for secure payments.

"The problem cannot be solved without the joint efforts of the family, banks and the state. We must act now to protect children from the consequences," Tsyplakov concluded.

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On April 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law aimed at protecting citizens from telephone and Internet scams. In particular, banks are now required to extend anti-fraud measures not only to online transfers, but also to ATM transactions. He also instructed the Russian government, together with the State Duma, to speed up the adoption of laws prohibiting the conclusion of banking contracts with minors without the consent of guardians. Prior to that, on March 5, Putin said that telephone and Internet fraud in Russia had acquired unacceptable proportions.

In December 2024, the Central Bank reported that banks had protected customers from 16.1 million online fraud attacks in the third quarter of 2024, preventing them from stealing 4.9 trillion rubles. At the same time, the regulator clarified that the fraudsters managed to steal 9.3 billion rubles in July–September.