Number of bank card frauds sees over 400% increase in 2019 - Russian Interior Ministry
MOSCOW. Nov 13 (Interfax) - The number of bank card frauds in Russia grew 417% in the first nine months of 2019, the Russian Interior Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
According to the ministry's statistical report, 10,371 bank card frauds were recorded in Russia in January-September 2019 or a year-on-year increase of 417.3%.
Meanwhile, the number of crimes committed by information and telecom means increased 69.2% year on year to more than 205,000, the statement said.
A leak of Sberbank customer data was reported in early October. According to the newspaper Kommersant, the leak concerned 60 million Russians. Sberbank denied the information as incorrect but confirmed that 200 bank cards had been compromised. The number of confirmed compromised bank cards later grew to 5,000. Kommersant said the information was sold for 5 rubles per line. Sberbank said that its security service, acting jointly with law enforcement agencies, found the source of the leak, a bank employee born in 1991 who had access to databases in his line of work.
In late October, the Volgograd Central District Court arrested an employee of a debt collection company on suspicion of stealing personal data of bank customers, including those of Sberbank.
Central Bank Chairperson Elvira Nabiullina said last week that the Central Bank is aware of the problem of bank customer data leak and will tighten its supervision, but believes that banks, payment system operators, debt collectors, and other actors are all responsible, and that a comprehensive approach is needed.