Financial organizations and telecom operators will be required to compensate victims of fraudsters in full for stolen funds if they fail to comply with the requirements to prevent such transactions. This was told by an expert from the North Caucasus Federal University.

The State Duma of the Russian Federation at its plenary session adopted in the second and third readings amendments to legislation regarding countering crimes committed using information and communication technologies.

"The law stipulates that if a bank detects a suspicious transfer or malware exposure, it must contact the state anti–fraud system for information and refuse to perform the operation," said Kirill Dolgopolov, head of the Department of Criminal Law and Procedure at North Caucasus Federal University, Doctor of Sociology, Candidate of Law, Associate Professor.

– If the client nevertheless decides to make a repeat transfer or sends a confirmation of the cancelled transaction, a cooling-off period of six hours is introduced. During this time, the bank may not execute the client's orders and may not repeat the transaction. If the bank does not initially stop the suspicious transaction or neglects the cooling—off period, it will be obliged to refund the funds at the request of the client," comments Kirill Dolgopolov.

It is important to note the rule according to which, in order to prevent theft, credit institutions, with the client's permission, must check before conducting an operation whether there is malware on his device where the online banking is installed. If such programs are detected, the bank will have to reject the transaction, notify the client about it and offer to conduct it from another secure device or at the bank's office.

– An important step in the fight against fraud is the fact that now one person can have no more than 20 payment cards opened in total in all banks. This measure is aimed at preventing cases of mass card processing for their transfer to fraudsters who withdraw and cash out the stolen money," says Kirill Dolgopolov.

An important step in order to protect children from fraudsters will be the fact that parents will have the right to notify telecom operators about the use of a SIM card by a child to provide him with secure content. The operator, in turn, will be required to include additional measures to protect such a SIM card, including filtering mobile traffic, and the inability to register a SIM card on resources that have age restrictions.

Important measures are also being introduced for mobile operators: a ban on termination of the communication contract within 90 days after receiving the number. This is necessary so that scammers cannot instantly flash the SIM card and escape. In addition, a database of IMEI codes will be created. This will make it possible to block phones from which attacks are carried out at the network level, up to their complete "brick" blocking.

The NCFU expert emphasizes that for the first time in our country, a mechanism for compensating damages from fraudulent actions will work. Banks and mobile operators will compensate for it if they do not fully implement a set of anti-fraud measures. That is why the adoption of this bill is important and timely.