President Vladimir Putin on Tuesdayordered sweeping steps against phone and internet frauds, including a restriction on federal government and teller from utilizing foreign messaging apps.Employees of federal government firms, credit institutions and telecom operators will be disallowed from interacting by means of foreign messaging apps in an official capability, according to Putins order.Putin instructed his government, the lower-house State Duma, the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Central Bank to draft the appropriate legal amendments by April 15.
The very same entities, along with Russias Interior Ministry and Investigative Committee, were likewise ordered to propose the production of a separate government agency entrusted with combating web and telephone fraud by July 15.
State communications guard dog Roskomnadzor was anticipated to put together a list of foreign messaging platforms to be prohibited under the changes, the RBC news websitereported in February, when the proposed ban was first being considered.Around that time, Putin ordered security and police to establish steps that would obstruct criminal calls from Ukraine and other unfriendly countries, a designation that applies mostly to Western states.In December, the Kremlin leader claimed that Ukrainian phone fraudsters had actually taken more than 250 billion rubles ($2.5 billion) from Russian residents in 2024 alone and implicated Kyiv of making phone fraud a part of state policy.Interior Ministry information mentioned throughout Putins anti-scam conference with authorities last month stated criminal activities including details and communication technologiesrose by 30% in 2023, totaling 677,000 cases.
In 2024, these criminal activities increased by another 13%, amounting to 765,000 cases.