20 Million Russians Have Placed a Self-Ban on Consumer Loans

10:25; 18 December 2025 year

For the first time since July this year, statistics on digital crimes in Russia have shown not an increase, but a decrease. In October, the decline was nearly a quarter. This reduction was made possible by new measures to combat cyber fraud at all stages of the "standard" criminal chain. At the entry point, calls from businesses are now labeled, and calls from spoofed numbers are blocked at the network level before reaching the subscriber. Telecommunications operators analyze traffic in real time. Government agencies, banks, and major platforms are prohibited from using foreign messengers to communicate with customers. Citizens have been provided with self-protection options. More than 20 million people have installed a ban on receiving consumer loans. Nearly 800,000 have done so for obtaining new SIM cards. The state services portal offers a "Protection from Online Scams" service, which has been used by 3 million people. Bank anti-fraud systems analyze transactions in real time, warning customers and stopping suspicious operations. In 2024 alone, this prevented more than 27 million illegal actions. The result of countermeasures at all levels was a statistical turning point. Over the first 10 months of 2025, the total number of digital crimes decreased by 9.5% compared to the same period last year. The peak decline was recorded in October—nearly 25% (compared to October 2024). Currently, a set of legislative solutions is being developed to intensify the fight and speed up investigations. The result of this work will be the creation of a unified state information system that will ensure seamless and prompt interaction between banks, telecommunications operators, digital platforms, and law enforcement agencies.

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