Cross-Border Payment Services Gain Popularity on the Darknet

According to media reports, financial services on the darknet are expanding due to sanctions. In particular, there has been a rise in offers to create payment gateways for foreign customers to pay Russian counterparties for goods and services. The newspaper “Kommersant” notes that cross-border payment services are becoming increasingly popular. The main reason is the difficulty of transferring funds through banks, including being cut off from international payment systems or refusals from counterparties. While many of these services operate in a gray area, they can also be used in legal schemes, the publication points out.

In the ads reviewed by journalists, service providers offer to set up payment chains for receiving funds from CIS countries, Europe, and Asia. To use the service, a client must contact an intermediary via a Telegram channel or email to discuss the terms. The intermediary then receives funds from the foreign buyer to their bank card or SIM card.

The seller receives the money in cryptocurrency, but in some cases, fiat payments are possible under individual arrangements. For example, the ads studied offered payouts once a day starting from 100,000 rubles. Ashot Oganesyan, founder of the data leak intelligence and darknet monitoring service DLBI, notes that while such offers used to be rare, now there are dozens.

Essentially, these services compete with legitimate companies that provide Visa and Mastercard payment acceptance for cards issued by foreign banks to pay for goods and services in Russia. Such companies, including Prodamus and Life Pay, charge commissions of 8.5–10%.

Anna Avakimyan, chief analyst at “RegBlock,” says that 20–30% of a counterparty’s expenses can be disguised as conversion fees or charges for opening auxiliary accounts. Sergey Trukhachev, head of internet threat analytics at “RTK-Solar,” adds that in some cases, the commission can exceed 50% of the transaction amount.

Nevertheless, such payment chains may be necessary for exporting goods, work, or services from Russia to any CIS country in cases where these goods are subject to some form of state control in Russia, which the exporter cannot or does not want to comply with, says Vladimir Chikin, partner at the law firm “Timofeev, Gusev & Partners.” In the CIS, he clarifies, there is a free trade zone: Russian goods are not subject to import duties. However, goods may be subject to other fees in the destination country.