Subliminal description: Russians are twice as likely to block suspicious accounts
The number of complaints to the Central Bank from Russians who are effectively disconnected from banking services because they are included in its database of suspicious transactions and accounts has risen sharply. The peak of appeals about exclusion from the blacklist came in July-August this year after the law on suspension of transfers came into force, the regulator's press service told Izvestia. It also reported that the share of complaints about blocking accounted for 28% in the category "Fraud". At the end of nine months, about 5.7 thousand bank customers, according to Izvestia calculations based on Central Bank data, could apply to remove their data from the database. In the same period of 2023, there were 2.9 thousand such requests, i.e. half as many. At the same time, as the Bank of Russia told Izvestia, in most cases, those who applied are denied exclusion from the database and restoration of access to their accounts. What it threatens and whether there is a way out of this situation - in the material "Izvestia".
Why the number of complaints about blocking of accounts has increased
If in general the number of complaints from consumers of financial services decreased in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period of 2023, the opposite was observed with regard to banks. The Central Bank's statistics show that the number of complaints about the actions of credit organizations has increased sharply (by 18.3%) and amounted to 140.8 thousand. The regulator explained: this was the result of a significant - by 93.5% - increase in the number of complaints in the category "Fraud". This was largely due to the fact that the number of complaints about blocking of accounts and cards increased after the law No. 161-FZ (on suspicious transfers suspension) came into force in July.
Most of the appeals concern the exclusion of information about account holders from the database of the Bank of Russia (contains information about fraudulent transactions and recipients of money, the so-called drops, to whom stolen funds are transferred. - Ed.), explained "Izvestia" in the press service of the regulator. They also reported that the share of such complaints accounts for 28% of the total mass of appeals on the subject of fraud. However, as noted in the Central Bank, there are also messages from applicants, information about which is not in the database of the regulator. Here we can talk about cases when a person did not understand the reason for the suspension of payment, the Central Bank said.
According to the results of three quarters of 2024, the share of complaints in the category "Fraud" amounted to 14.6% of the total number. It turns out that more than 5.7 thousand people asked the Central Bank to remove them from the dropship base, follows from the calculations of "Izvestia". In 2023, the share of complaints in the category "Fraud" occupied 9%, accordingly, we can assume that 2.9 thousand applied because of inclusion in the register of the Central Bank. That is, the number of complaints about being included in the database and the subsequent blocking of accounts doubled.
Recall that the law, which came into force on July 25, obliges banks to suspend transfers of citizens for two days, if there are suspicions that the transaction is carried out under the influence of others. In this case, the accounts to which the money was to be received and their owners are entered into a special database of the Central Bank. Consequences for such willing or unwilling (often citizens and their accounts are used in the dark) "helpers" of swindlers are very serious, so they are trying to get themselves removed from the blacklist.
The Central Bank told Izvestia that the peak of citizens' appeals for blocking was at the end of July and August, but in November their number decreased by a quarter compared to the maximum values.
- Based on the results of consideration of the majority of appeals, negative decisions were made - there were no grounds for excluding information from the regulator's database, as banks confirmed signs of fraud in the operations of such clients," the Central Bank said.
What threatens Russians getting into the Central Bank's database?
Consequences for citizens who got into the Central Bank's database are extremely serious, experts say.
- In fact, a client declared a dropper is deprived of remote banking services. His accounts, cards, applications and personal online accounts are blocked in all credit organizations. He will be able to withdraw his money only by personally going to a branch and proving the legitimacy of the origin of the funds," reminded Evgenia Lazareva, head of the People's Front project "For the Rights of Borrowers" and coordinator of the "Moshelovka" platform.
According to the expert, such a citizen is unlikely to be able to reopen an account or try to use the services of the bank, where he was not served.
- Presence in the database means his unreliability. Naturally, in this context it is out of the question to lend to such a client," she said.
Evgenia Lazareva also points out that a record in the database of droppers potentially opens up prospects for criminal prosecution. While officially in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation there are no articles for dropperism, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has only prepared the relevant bill, but law enforcement practice shows that this activity is qualified under several articles at once. And recently they have been used more often against people through whose accounts stolen funds are transferred.
SafeTech Commercial Director Daria Verestnikova emphasized that not only voluntary "assistants" of swindlers could get into the database of drops, but also random consumers of financial services due to poor quality feeds (data on each recorded transaction) provided by individual banks. But today, the mechanism of exclusion from the Central Bank's list of bona fide clients who were there by mistake is not clearly defined at the legislative level, she emphasized.
- It is very likely that due to the imperfection of algorithms of the banking system, a significant number of bona fide citizens could fall under the restrictions. This may be evidenced by the statistics of the Central Bank, which is characterized by sharp dynamics of indicators for several months, - agreed the lawyer of the Law Office "Zabeyda and Partners" Roman Bubnov.
In his opinion, after mass complaints about actions to disconnect from service, credit organizations had to adjust their activities in this direction.
- Analytical work when considering clients' appeals and their provision of documents confirming their good faith could also have had a significant impact on the situation," the lawyer believes.
Alexander Terentyev, a forensic expert of the Veta Expert Group, emphasized that the signs of suspiciousness cover a fairly wide range of transactions, so some people may get into the database by mistake. Banks need to interact with their clients more thoroughly.
- At the same time, for fraudsters, the established practice of blocking is certainly not a significant obstacle. They have already found alternative ways, including the use of couriers to transfer or cash out funds, which reduces the need to involve dropships in transactions," the expert said.
What to do if the Central Bank refused to exclude dropships from the database
The Central Bank's refusal to satisfy clients' requests to exclude them from the dropship database leaves people with only one option - to defend their reputation in court, Roman Bubnov said.
- One of the strongest arguments in this case may be the bank's lack of information about a criminal case initiated for remote theft involving the plaintiff's bank card," the lawyer said.
He will have to prove and convince the court that the accusations of dropper activity are groundless or his account was used by the attackers without his active participation and knowledge, commented Evgenia Lazareva. But, she noted, court proceedings are an adversarial process and it is not certain that the court will be persuaded.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that the main age of droppers in Russia is from 14 to 21 years old, which was recently stated by Vadim Uvarov, director of the Central Bank's information security department, the human rights activist pointed out. Teenagers do not take their financial transactions seriously, the more they will not appeal to the Central Bank and the court with complaints about blocking.
- It may turn out that in the future a significant part of young people will be cut off from banking services. The terms of storage of information in the dropship database are not regulated. In such conditions, not only will the quality of life of these young people decrease, but there is also a risk of their intensive criminalization," suggested Evgenia Lazareva.
And she explained that even if they manage to avoid criminal prosecution, potential employers will inevitably be confused by the inability to open a bank account. Only the possibility of working in the gray zone will remain.
