I would have known the ransom: pawnshops do not want to return the valuables handed over due to fraudsters

Pawnshops do not want to return items handed over to them under the influence of fraudsters. This was reported to Izvestia by the relevant associations. Since the beginning of the year, cases have become more frequent when, at the request of the police, such valuables are ordered to be returned to deceived customers. In their letters to the security forces and the Central Bank, loan offices are asking for a review of the laws, pointing out problems for the industry. Whether these fears are true, given their earnings, is in the Izvestia article.

How Scammers send people to pawn shops

Pawnshops are unhappy that they have to return valuables in cases where customers have handed them over under pressure from scammers. This was reported to Izvestia by market participants: the Pawnshop Development Association, the National Pawnshop Association and the Regional Pawnshop Association. Such situations have become more frequent recently.

Photo: TASS/Bernd Weißbrod

Malefactors, under various pretexts, force people to hand over jewelry, and transfer the proceeds to criminals — that is, pawnshops are used as an intermediate stage in deception schemes, said Danil Filippov, deputy head of the investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at SPIEF-2025. However, if a person has written a statement to law enforcement agencies, the police can come to the loan office and seize things by court order. As a result, the company remains without possessions and without earnings.

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This practice became popular at the end of last year, Maria Pospelova, vice-chairman of the Pawnshop Development Association, told Izvestia.

"There are few similar cases in the Russian Federation, within 2-3 dozen, but they are critical for us, because the majority of pawnshops are microenterprises that incur double losses," she said.

The legislation here is on the client's side. The pawnshop must pledge the thing transferred to it in two cases: if the borrower has repaid the loan amount with interest, or if the thing is seized by law enforcement agencies in a criminal or administrative case, said Ekaterina Baglaeva, lawyer at the Yukov and Partners board.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Korotaev

Such situations may be sensitive for small market players, the National Association of Pawnshops also pointed out. In addition, many medium-sized and small companies have already been unable to maintain profitability and ensure sustainable operation. According to their data, today 2-2.5 million Russians act as pawnshop clients.

Should the pawnshop return items deposited under the influence of fraudsters

The Pawnshop Development Association has sent an appeal to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor General's Office, as well as to the Bank of Russia and the Federal Assay Chamber (FPP) with a request to review the legislation so that business is better protected, the association told Izvestia. Izvestia has sent inquiries to these agencies. The Central Bank clarified that they had received an appeal and would consider it. The FPP did not receive the letter.

The association's appeal clarifies that the pawnshop does not really know whether there was a real fraud or not. But at the same time, law enforcement agencies decided that the business should give away the collateral. For example, if a bank has allowed money to be transferred to a fraudulent account, then law enforcement officers do not require funds from it. However, there is a law for credit institutions that obliges banks to reimburse customers for the amount of damage only if a transfer was made to a suspicious account from the Central Bank's database.

However, changing the law for pawnshops is hardly appropriate, experts interviewed by Izvestia believe. In the current situation, everyone is suffering, both business and individuals, but it is incorrect to prioritize some over others.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Evgeny Balitsky

Do not forget that pawnshop customers are often people with irregular incomes who are denied loans by credit institutions, said independent expert Andrei Barkhota.

— The main income of pawnshops is based on the fact that the loans issued amount to less than 50% of the market value of the collateral. Thus, if the borrower defaults, the company does not incur a direct loss," he noted.

First of all, it is necessary to change the legal awareness of citizens, not the legislation, says Alyona Grishkova, adviser to the Pen&Paper Bar Association. However, work in this direction is already underway.

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Appraisers are ordinary people without special psychological skills, previously they were not tasked with identifying questionable deposits, but now they are learning this — which is in the interests of the loan offices themselves, said Maria Pospelova from the Pawnshop Development Association.

Many organizations have developed techniques for employees based on video footage of customer behavior during service. If the appraiser notices that the client is in a stressful state, he may refuse service and report it to law enforcement agencies, said Lyudmila Gribok, chairman of the Regional Pawnshops Association.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Lantyukhov

Each company has internal control rules in order to counter fraudsters — for inaction, an employee may face a fine of 30,000 to 50,000 rubles or disqualification for up to three years, said Ekaterina Baglaeva from the Yukov and Partners Bar Association.

If the legislation is nevertheless decided to be changed, then it would be possible to introduce a new type of pawnbroking security such as a mortgage, which establishes the property right to pledge, Andrei Barkhota believes. In this case, even if a fraudulent scheme is established and the thing deposited as collateral is returned to the individual, the person will have to pay the loan cashier a commission for the time of storing the jewelry, covering part of the costs. So the item is not returned absolutely free of charge, but the business does not incur huge losses, the expert explained.

Another possible measure is a targeted loan. He assumes that the money secured by the jewelry is given for something specific, Ekaterina Baglaeva emphasized. Accordingly, when things are handed over for transfer to scammers, they will not be able to confirm such a goal. This will become another barrier to easily receiving money and transferring it to scammers.