You can't go there: Russians actively forbid themselves to take out loans
In November, Russian residents submitted significantly more applications for their own restrictions on loans and borrowings: the number of such self-prohibitions increased by about 16.8% compared to October and reached about 1.58 million, the press service of the National Bureau of Credit Histories (NBKI) reported. As the Central Bank told Izvestia, in the first 10 months of 2025, the number of complaints about cyberbullying decreased by more than 24% compared to the same period last year. Izvestia investigated how self-locking affects credit fraud statistics and what other mechanisms are needed to protect against cybercrime.
The results of the restrictions
In the first 10 months of 2025, the number of requests related to cyberbullying decreased by more than 24% compared to the same period last year, the press service of the Bank of Russia told Izvestia. This category includes statements about disputes in the execution of contracts and unauthorized write-offs made by outsiders. Although the decrease in indicators was ensured by various measures, the introduction of a self-ban on loans and borrowings significantly affected the dynamics.
The regulator conducts an analysis of the largest banks every quarter, examining, among other things, the volume of fraudulent transactions in the credit sector. As part of the program, a study of data for the final period of 2025 is planned for the first quarter of 2026. In preparing this review, new tools aimed at combating digital fraud will be taken into account.
"Millions of people install self-locks both to protect themselves from fraudsters and to protect themselves from spontaneous purchases and emotional consumption. This is a very good example confirming the growth of financial literacy and financial culture in general," the regulator noted.
The self-locking mechanism is still difficult to assess as a direct factor in reducing fraud, Elman Mehdiyev, Director General of the Association for the Development of Financial Literacy, told Izvestia. However, after March 1, the number of complaints about such schemes decreased significantly, indicating a possible positive effect.
Protection against cybercriminals, he said, still relies heavily on a person's critical attitude to digital actions. It is the user who often becomes the "weak link", and for this reason, despite the decrease in the number of successful transactions performed without the explicit consent of the owner of funds, their total volume continues to grow.
An increase in the number of self-locks issued may indicate an increase in citizens' awareness of tools that can reduce the consequences of leakage or theft of personal data, Elman Mehdiyev believes. At the same time, such a one-time action only partially reflects the real level of financial literacy and does not form a full-fledged habit of systematically managing your finances.
Necessary tools
It is impossible to reliably assess the impact of self-locking on the scale of fraud, Evgenia Lazareva, project manager of the Popular Front For Borrowers' Rights, coordinator of the Moshelovka platform, told Izvestia. Such crimes are constantly changing their form. Attackers adapt their methods, change approaches, and adjust their schemes to meet any new barriers. At the same time, the mechanism of self-restraint itself really eliminates the risk of registering other people's debts. The presence of a prohibition mark informs the lender that it is impossible to issue a loan, and the request is automatically rejected, excluding the possibility of actions by third parties.
— But it is incorrect to say that self-locking is a universal solution. In late November, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko reported that about 17 million people had used this mechanism since March. However, the number of citizens who have not established such a restriction is still significantly higher, and they remain in the area of the attackers' interests as potential victims," the expert noted.
In her opinion, the existing measures of protection against cybercriminals are already quite diverse. In addition to self-locking, there is a "cooling-off period", a "second-hand" mechanism, as well as services that block access to phishing resources and the installation of malware. But the effectiveness of these solutions directly depends on whether citizens use them themselves, and many people only think about such tools after they encounter a problem.
The growing number of self-closures simultaneously affects the reduction of impulsive creditworthiness, Evgenia Lazareva believes. People say that this measure helps them plan their expenses more carefully and avoid rash purchases. This indicates the strengthening of more responsible financial behavior and contributes to the formation of the habit of assessing risks before applying for a loan.
Previously, up to a third of the stolen funds accounted for loans issued to victims, Alexey Voylukov, MBA professor of business practice in digital finance at the RANEPA, told Izvestia. Probably, after the advent of self-locking, some of these schemes have become more complicated, but there is no exact data yet. In parallel, there is also a "cooling-off period" when issuing loans.
"An effective fight against cyberbullying requires the coordination of all departments," the expert emphasized. — It is necessary to speed up procedures for blocking stolen funds and simplify the transfer of incidents to procedural proceedings. The most important measure is the actual application of tougher penalties for droppers who provide their accounts to criminals, since reducing the number of accomplices complicates the withdrawal of stolen money and reduces the effectiveness of schemes.
From the point of view of the debt burden, samozapret has almost no effect on the credit market, Alexey Voylukov is sure. If necessary, a person can remove the restriction and apply for a loan in two days, so this tool is not a barrier to obtaining a loan. The reduction in unsecured lending is primarily due to the Central Bank's policy and established limits. But from the point of view of financial literacy, the increase in the number of self-locks is important: the more people know about the protection mechanism and understand its principles, the more actively they apply it in practice, and the expansion of access through the IFC has increased the number of those who can use this measure.
Self-locking facilitates the protection of citizens, but does not completely eliminate the threat, so Russians should combine it with other measures, Peter Shcherbachenko, associate professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, told Izvestia. In particular, with bans on real estate transactions, self-ban on new SIM cards, password updates, multi-factor authentication, control of banking transactions and improvement of financial literacy, especially among vulnerable groups.
"The effectiveness of self—locking largely depends on the comprehensive application of technical and educational measures, as well as on the joint efforts of the state, banks, cyber companies and telecom operators to reduce fraud risks and protect citizens," the expert noted.
Izvestia sent a request to the NBKI, but no response had been received at the time of publication.
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