Fraud with pensioners' money will become an aggravating circumstance.

Fraud with pensioners' money will become an aggravating circumstance. A corresponding bill with amendments to the Criminal Code has been prepared for submission to the State Duma by deputies of the LDPR faction led by Leonid Slutsky.

"The draft federal law On Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the draft Law) has been developed in order to toughen criminal penalties for crimes committed against persons of pre—retirement or retirement age related to embezzlement of funds from a bank account or electronic funds," follows from a document that appeared on July 16. Izvestia.

According to the bill, fraud related to forcing citizens to apply for loans has become a large-scale social and economic problem in Russia. Malefactors use manipulation, deception and abuse of trust, which leads to the illegal encumbrance of the population with debt obligations.

"According to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the volume of transactions without the voluntary consent of customers in 2024 amounted to 27.5 billion rubles, which is 1.74 times more than in 2023 (15.8 billion rubles). According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation, in 2024, about 20% of Russians who became victims of fraud are people over 60 years old," the text clarifies.

In addition, in connection with the draft law, it is proposed to recognize as an aggravating circumstance the commission of crimes against persons of pre-retirement or retirement age under Articles 158, 159.3 and 159.6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation related to the theft of money from a bank account or electronic funds.

"Thousands of elderly people who have been affected by fraudsters of various stripes are contacting us. How hard it is sometimes to listen to these unfortunate people who were robbed to the skin by crooks, deprived of an apartment or forced to take out a huge loan. Such crimes are registered almost daily, with about 20% of fraud victims being pre—retirees and pensioners. Of course, the elderly are a risk group due to their gullibility, ignorance of modern technology, and impaired attention and reaction," Leonid Slutsky explained the need for new measures to Izvestia.

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Earlier, on June 18, VTB Vice President Dmitry Revyakin announced a halving in the number of thefts of funds in online banks, despite a 50% increase in fraudulent attacks. According to him, due to the increased protection of online services, attackers are increasingly using social engineering methods and convincing citizens to transfer money on their own.