Central Bank Proposes Mandatory Refunds for Scam Transfers

The Central Bank of Russia has proposed a new regulation that would require banks to refund customers the money they transferred to scammers. According to the proposal, if a suspicious account appears in the Bank of Russia’s database, any transfers to that account should be suspended for two days for verification.

Vadim Uvarov, head of the regulator’s information security department, told RIA Novosti that the Central Bank has submitted an amendment to the law on the national payment system. This document aligns with a bill on information sharing with the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), which has already passed its first reading in the State Duma.

“The latest version of the bill stipulates that banks which have processed a transfer to a fraudulent account must return the full amount to the customer within 30 days of receiving their claim. For cross-border transfers, the period is set at 60 days,” Uvarov clarified. Additionally, the Central Bank suggests suspending transfers for two days if the account is listed in the database.

Enhanced Information Sharing to Combat Fraud

The information-sharing bill involves connecting the MVD to the automated FinCERT system, which receives data about transfers or attempted transfers to scammers. This would allow law enforcement to receive near real-time information about fraudulent transactions, while still complying with banking secrecy regulations.

The FinCERT database is expected to be supplemented with information from the MVD, which will help banks prevent fraudulent transfers more effectively.

Additional Anti-Fraud Initiatives

In early August, another initiative was proposed to the Central Bank to fight fraud: freezing transfers over 10,000 rubles on intermediary accounts until the user passes an additional verification check.