Starting in 2026, banks will begin blocking transfers based on new indicators of fraud.

      The Bank of Russia announced an expansion of the list of indicators by which credit institutions are obliged to detect fraudulent money transfers. The changes will come into effect on January 1, 2026. Whereas banks previously relied on six criteria, there will now be twelve.

      As before, banks will suspend transactions if the recipient’s details or the device from which the transfer is made are in the Bank of Russia’s databases of fraudulent operations, if a criminal case has been opened against the recipient, or if the transfer is inconsistent with the client’s usual financial behavior. Signals from telecom operators will also continue to be taken into account — for example, a sharp increase in calls or messages from unknown numbers.

      Among the new indicators are suspicious events on the client’s device. This refers to the installation of malware, changes to the operating system or the communications provider, and changing the phone number in the online bank or on the Gosuslugi portal less than 48 hours before a transfer. The Bank of Russia notes that such actions may indicate remote access by fraudsters to the account.

      In addition, cash deposits via ATM using a tokenized (digital) card will be considered suspicious if, within the previous 24 hours, the client made a cross-border transfer to another person for more than 100,000 rubles. Transfers to people to whom the client has not sent money in the past six months will also be monitored if, within the preceding 24 hours, there was a transfer to the client themselves via the Faster Payments System from another bank for more than 200,000 rubles. These new criteria do not apply to payments for goods and services to legal entities.

      Technical indicators have also been added to the list — exceeding the allowable data exchange time between the card and the ATM during contactless operations, as well as information on fraud risks received from the National Payment Card System. From March 1, 2026, banks will begin to take into account information from the state information system “Antifraud.”

      If a transfer falls under one of the indicators of fraud, the bank is obliged to suspend the operation for two days and notify the client. During this time the person can confirm the payment or repeat it using the same details. If confirmed, the bank must execute the transfer immediately.

      An exception is provided for situations where the recipient is in the Bank of Russia’s database of fraudulent operations. In that case the transfer will not be carried out even with the client’s consent — the bank must again suspend the operation or refuse to execute it.