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- Pocket approaches: teenagers are being given a limit of 100 thousand for card transactions
Pocket approaches: teenagers are being given a limit of 100 thousand for card transactions
Transfers by minors' cards are proposed to be limited to the amount of 100 thousand rubles per month. The same limit is proposed to be set for receiving cash. This will protect teenagers from being involved in dropper schemes for cashing out criminally obtained funds, according to the Popular Front. They also called for banks to develop a list of signs indicating the involvement of minors in fraudulent schemes. Such measures can reduce the mass involvement of children in such frauds, but they need to be combined with improving financial literacy, including among parents, experts believe.
How they want to protect teenagers
Public figures have asked to legally limit the amount of transactions for transferring and receiving cash for minors. The limit is proposed to be set at 100,000 rubles per month, and only the legal representative of the teenager can increase it. This proposal was made by the Popular Front (the document is available to Izvestia).
As part of the fulfillment of the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation, experts conducted a study on the problem of telephone and Internet fraud, which covered 17.5 thousand people from all regions of Russia. In the summer of 2025, about 20% of the signals in the "telephone fraud" category contained information about attacks on children from 12 to 19 years old, they found out.
Scammers communicate with children and young people through online games, posing as classroom teachers, head teachers, nurses, heads of educational institutions, and psychologists. In addition, they are increasingly using teenagers as their "hands" — they ask to conduct a remote search of the apartment, as well as send SMS messages from their parents' phones, experts of the movement have recorded.
Earlier, Izvestia reported that the number of daily fraudulent attacks on children and adolescents in the first half of 2025 increased by almost 50% compared to the second half of 2024.
"In parallel with setting limits, it is necessary to intensify educational work with children and adolescents, involving the participation of Interior Ministry staff and professional experts, which will help make such information more memorable for schoolchildren," the movement believes.
In addition, control purchases of the Moshelovka project for the search and fight against financial fraudsters.The Russian Federation" revealed that bank managers continue to ignore the obvious signs of teenagers' involvement in droppery, opening accounts for them without proper verification. Therefore, we need a list of signs indicating the participation of minors in such schemes, and recommendations for actions when they are identified, the Popular Front added.
The idea of introducing limits on banking transactions for minors was supported in the State Duma. Teenagers' accounts should be under the full control of their parents, Nina Ostanina, head of the Committee for Family Protection, Fatherhood, Motherhood and Childhood, told Izvestia.
— When a person has reached the age of majority, only then does he become independent. Before that, even if he earns money himself, receives a scholarship on the card, transfers should still be under the control of his parents," she explained.
Due to their gullibility and lack of critical thinking, teenagers remain a desirable target for scammers, she added.
"As a result, they sacrifice not only their wallets, but also their parents' wallets, so I welcome such restrictive measures," Nina Ostanina said.
As Izvestia wrote, the National Financial Market Council took the initiative to set a mandatory limit on transactions on teenagers' cards in the amount of 200 thousand rubles.
How teenagers become droppers
Young people are involved in dropper schemes related to cashing out and laundering criminally obtained funds, most often through social networks and messengers, explained Mikhail Timaev, head of the IT TASK technical presale department. It is very easy to find ads for a quick part-time job without experience with a minimum of effort there.
— They demonstrate a beautiful and prosperous life, which they often strive for. There are no legal ways to make money very quickly, and against this background, illegal options appear with the hope that it will "blow through" and there will be no negative consequences," he explained.
Low awareness of the essence of such schemes and youthful maximalism make teenagers especially vulnerable, and emotions in such cases quickly prevail over caution," the expert emphasized.
"There is also a social background: someone wants financial independence from their parents, someone lives in difficult conditions, and the offer to earn tens of thousands of rubles quickly seems very tempting," he added.
In most cases, minors do not even realize that they are participating in a scheme that falls under the Criminal Code, said Alexey Gorelkin, CEO of Phishman and ambassador of the Cyberdome Business Club.
— Mainly those groups of the population who cannot find other decent work, but are willing to take risks, are involved in this activity. Coincidentally, there are quite a few of them among teenagers," he said.
Those who benefit from the criminal scheme, in most cases, remain undetected, but droppers are almost always punished, the expert recalled.
Who can open cards for minors
The procedure for opening bank cards for minors has changed significantly in 2025, the lawyers reminded Izvestia. For children under the age of 14, the possibility of opening a bank card is not directly provided, explained Vladimir Kuznetsov, Vice President of the Association of Lawyers for Registration, Liquidation, Bankruptcy and Judicial Representation.
— In this case, we are talking about issuing an additional bank card linked to the account of one of the parents or legal representatives. All operations on such a card are performed on behalf of the parent. There are no legal restrictions for them regarding the registration of such cards, with the exception of general requirements for legal capacity and legal capacity," he said.
From the age of 14, teenagers have the right to open bank accounts and receive cards on their own.
"However, since March 29, 2025, changes have come into force, according to which minors aged 14 to 18 need the written consent of their legal representatives to open a bank account and receive a card," said Vladimir Kuznetsov.
According to him, this measure is also designed to prevent possible fraudulent activities. Banks are also required to notify legal representatives about issuing bank cards to underage customers.
"Thus, the regulation of bank card openings by minors is aimed at ensuring a balance between the expansion of their financial independence and the protection of their interests by legal representatives," the lawyer believes.
Many banks are already setting stricter rules and limits for underage customers on their own to minimize risks, added the lawyer, an expert at the P.A. Institute of Growth Economics. Stolypin Dmitry Grigoriev.
However, in addition to banking products, minors can open electronic wallets and use digital money, Roman Lobusev, head of Ingo Bank's transactional products development department, drew attention.
Will the limits help
Setting limits for transactions on bank cards of teenagers can be an effective measure, but its implementation in practice requires serious study, experts interviewed by Izvestia believe. Restrictions on card and cash transactions can make teenagers a less profitable and more troublesome tool for criminal schemes involving millions, Dmitry Grigoryadi believes.
— For scammers, teenage droppers are attracted precisely by the ability to quickly and anonymously cash out large amounts. The limit of 100 thousand rubles will make it difficult to use their accounts for such purposes," he said. — Such a limit will be a signal for the banking system. Exceeding or approaching this amount may be the basis for additional verification of transactions by the bank's security service.
However, scammers are very resourceful. They may simply start using more cards issued to different teenagers in order to circumvent the established limit, the expert fears.
— Instead of one dropper for a million rubles, they will hire 10 for 100 thousand. Criminals can also rebuild their schemes to use cryptocurrencies or other financial instruments, Dmitry Grigoryadi believes.
According to him, the question remains about who and how will monitor this limit if a teenager has cards open in several banks.
"This requires a single interbank control mechanism, and its creation is a complex technical and legal task," the expert believes.
The introduction of limits can complicate the lives of law-abiding teenagers, added Oleg Abelev, head of the analytical department at the Rikom-Trust investment company.
"They pay for expensive courses or equipment if their parents give them money, but it will become impossible," he said.
The majority of teenagers and young people use cards for ordinary expenses — for studies, entertainment and hobbies, Igor Rastorguev, a leading analyst at AMarkets, agrees.
"The restrictions, therefore, will affect not only criminal acts, but also the usual financial activity of teenagers, many of whom simply do not know how to manage money rationally yet," he stressed.
Along with the introduction of restrictions, it is necessary to work on improving the financial literacy of teenagers and their parents themselves, to explain to them the consequences of certain actions, experts believe.
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