Quit clicking: Major banks introduce new measures to combat fraud
The largest banks are massively introducing "special buttons" to combat fraudsters, Izvestia found out. From October 1, at the request of the Central Bank, mandatory functionality will appear in bank applications — it will allow customers to be informed about transactions that they have not performed. With the help of a "special button", applications from individuals about transactions carried out without their consent will also be accepted. The mechanism will prevent the theft of funds, as well as help customers recover stolen money faster. At the same time, some banks, in particular T-Bank, had similar functionality in the mobile application even before the introduction of the official requirement. Nevertheless, comprehensive measures that can be implemented in the near future are important for the success of the fight against fraudsters. How banks deal with fraud — in the material of Izvestia.
What measures will banks introduce to combat fraud
Large banks are actively implementing "special buttons" to quickly respond to fraudsters, Izvestia found out. Starting from October 1, they are required to add a mechanism to their mobile applications through which the client promptly reports an operation performed without consent, remotely submits an application and receives an electronic certificate of the transaction status. The "special button" was launched within the framework of the instructions of the Central Bank.
The "special button" appeared in T-Bank a year before the official requirement of the regulator, the press service of the organization reported. If the client suspected fraud, he could select a suspicious transaction and click the "Dispute" button, and then indicate that the fraudsters stole money from him with this transaction. After pressing the button, the client is temporarily blocked from accessing the card and personal account, the company's press service said. According to the application, a certificate is generated with data on fraudulent transactions (recipient, transaction time, etc.), which helps the client contact the police faster and facilitates the work of law enforcement officers. Information about the recipients is also transmitted to the Central Bank for verification.
"In cases where the client has a free "Protect or refund money" service enabled, when clicking on a special button and confirming the fraud, the funds will be refunded in full," T—Bank clarified.
A similar function works in the Sbera application — since October 1, the scheme of its operation has changed, the organization's press service said. Previously, the "Report a fraudster" service made it possible to promptly contact the bank, prevent theft of funds when disclosing card data or SMS code and provide information about fraudsters, but now, after submitting an application to the police, the client immediately receives a certificate of disputed transactions in a chat in the Sberbank Online application.
Since October 1, VTB has also introduced a "panic button" — with its help, the client will be able to mark the transaction as fraudulent in the transaction history in the mobile application, the organization's press service said. Then you will need to answer a few questions in the chatbot to generate a message to the Bank of Russia and receive help. The 13 largest banks in the country must enter the alarm button.
In addition, similar mechanisms are launched in the Dom Bank.Russian Federation" and Raiffeisen Bank, and the possibility of its connection is also being considered at Novik Bank, representatives of the organizations said. Izvestia has sent inquiries to other major market players.
— The special button mechanism will be useful because of the shorter time between the fraudulent incident and the victim's statement. It increases the chance to stop write—offs and form a package of documents for the police and the Central Bank faster," said Vladimir Chernov, analyst at Freedom Finance Global.
The activation of the "panic button" allows the bank to instantly increase the risk assessment for the client, block his transfers, check the withdrawal chain and quickly notify other organizations of the problem, explained Alexey Postrigailo, senior partner at the Ensain IT integrator. This significantly speeds up the reaction rate of the entire system to scammers, which makes their lives more difficult.
— Nevertheless, it is impossible to completely solve the problem of fraud by introducing a button, — said Alexander Bleznekov, head of the Information Security department of the Telecom Exchange.
The introduction of a "special button" is rather not a measure to prevent fraud, but a tool for their investigation, said Denis Kalemberg, CEO of SafeTech Group. When the client realizes that he has transferred money to intruders, as a rule, the funds have already been debited from the account and have gone to their accounts, therefore, the button most likely will not bring a critical effect on preventing such cases.
How else do banks deal with fraudsters
At the same time, banks are actively strengthening their protection against fraud, added Dmitry Tselishchev, Managing Director of the Rikom-Trust investment company. For example, they freeze funds when cash withdrawal limits are exceeded, introduce multi-stage payment verification, and use AI assistants who can ask clarifying questions and identify suspicious scenarios.
T-Bank also actively opposes fraud, for example, in 2022, the Neuroshield service was launched for the bank's customers with the T-Mobile connection. T-Mobile's own AI-based development detects and breaks fraudulent calls with 99% accuracy in real time. Now Neuroshit, together with other T-Bank security technologies, detects and prevents 82 million unwanted calls per month.
In addition, the authorities are already actively working on the second package of Anti-Fraud 2.0 bills. The first package of measures against fraudsters included about 30 initiatives. Some measures are already in effect: for example, employees of government agencies, banks and telecom operators are prohibited from using foreign messengers to communicate with customers, and calls from all organizations must be marked by the telecom operator. Such bans will make life difficult for cybercriminals — it becomes much more difficult to commit crimes.
The second package of measures against cybercriminals includes about 20 initiatives, Alexander Bleznekov, head of the information security department of the Telecom Exchange. Among them is the automated data exchange between banks and telecom operators through GIS "Antifraud", which will allow faster detection of suspicious transactions. They will also introduce mechanisms to ban calls from foreign numbers, restore access to "Public Services" after being blocked by fraudsters and limit the number of bank cards per citizen to 10.
In addition, these government initiatives provide for the possibility of blocking fraudsters' numbers, as well as the organization of a single database of malicious voices, Denis Kalemberg noted. These measures are designed to create a systemic barrier for intruders and increase the overall level of security in the financial and telecommunications sectors.
In addition, the Russian Federation has a self-locking mechanism for issuing loans and borrowings, the expert added. Thanks to him, people can independently deprive themselves of the opportunity to remotely apply for a loan. This blocks the scheme of scammers who pre-arrange approved loans for the victim and then receive money through access to her account on Public Services. As of October 1, 14 million Russians had self-imposed restrictions on loans.
When to expect a decrease in fraud volumes
Telephone fraud is a global problem, said Alexander Bleznekov. In 2024, 68% of the Indian population, 49% of the United States and about 30% in Europe faced it. According to the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, global losses from this type of crime exceeded a trillion dollars last year.
Scammers have become a serious threat because technology has given them scale and accuracy, said Alexey Postrigailo from Insight. Generative AI writes convincing texts in minutes, selects personal legends and clones voices; massive data leaks allow targeted attacks on citizens, instant transfers shorten the window for reaction to a matter of minutes, and IP telephony and instant messengers have reduced the cost of attacks to almost zero. The entry threshold is low and the payback is high, so there are more attempts and more successful cases.
— In Russia, the trend is reinforced by frequent leaks, rapid online growth, and a stressful background in which urgent request scenarios work well. Many people still have poor digital hygiene - they trust calls "from the bank", put them on at the request of "support", and do not include basic protections on the phone," explained Alexey Postrigailo.
A reduction in the number of frauds can be expected already when a highly advanced anti-fraud system appears, created in cooperation with banks and telecom, Denis Kalemberg noted. The system should analyze people's communications and identify suspicious conversations that lead to suspicious actions. Such a system.
It is obvious that it is impossible to completely eradicate fraudulent practices, since any new protection measure inevitably generates countermeasures from intruders, Dmitry Tselishchev concluded. However, the task of the regulator and banks is to stop the problem from spreading. Two factors are important for this: improving people's financial literacy and using modern cybersecurity technologies.
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