In 2020, the Bank of Russia identified over 1,500 organisations with signs of illegal activity. This figure includes 222 financial pyramids, 395 illegal forex dealers, and over 800 illegal lenders. These are last year’s results of the regulator’s efforts to combat illegal activity.
That said, nearly a half of the identified financial pyramids and the vast majority of the illegal forex dealers operated online.
‘Fraudsters actively use new technologies, employ popular themes and brainwashing. They enlist popular bloggers to support their projects and lure customers in messengers’, notices Valeriy Lyakh, Director of the Department for Countering Misconduct. ‘Financial services consumers must remember this not to fall victim to fraudsters and lose their money. You cannot beat a criminal on its ground. If you continue to invest in a dubious project, knowing that it is illegal, then you help promote the pyramid and deceive new customers.’
The regulator passes information on all identified cases of illegal activities to law enforcement agencies, domain name registrars and other structures that have the authority to terminate the activities of illegal entities and block their websites.
The Bank of Russia considers as its principal task reducing the lifespan of illegal institutions and expelling them from the market as soon as possible. This will help protect consumers’ interests and reduce risks of their potential financial losses. To achieve this objective, the regulator will continue to improve its own systems for identifying illegal activities in the financial market developed using modern technologies.
This news item was originally published by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBR RU). For more information, please see the Source Link.
