Fraudsters in Russia have already found a new target — the digital ruble. Although its full rollout is not scheduled until September 2026, the first scams exploiting the central bank digital currency (CBDC) are already spreading. According to the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), citizens lost 6.3 billion rubles (nearly $75 million) in just the second quarter of this year.
Social engineering over hacking
Experts stress that the problem is not technological breaches but social engineering tricks. Scammers impersonate bank officials or tax workers, convince people to transfer funds to “safe accounts,” or lure them into fake apps and links.
“The main weapon is psychological pressure — phone calls, fake interfaces, or fraudulent exchanges,” explains Vladimir Chernov of Freedom Finance Global.
Common scam scenarios include:
Offering to convert regular rubles into digital rubles at a “special rate” before CBDC launchClaiming that transferring savings into a digital wallet is mandatoryFake calls from the Federal Tax Service (FNS), demanding victims pay fabricated fines exclusively in digital rubles
Banks obliged to reimburse victims
By law, Russian banks are required to compensate victims of fraud — but the actual mechanism to do so does not yet exist. Analysts estimate that an effective system for reimbursing stolen digital rubles will not be in place until 2027–2028.
“Tracking transactions won’t be difficult, but recovering funds from recipients may take months or years and require court rulings,” warns Alexey Lukatsky of Positive Technologies.
Still, the digital ruble platform gives the state vast control — every transaction is permanently recorded, and the Central Bank of Russia can blacklist suspicious accounts.
Political backdrop and regulation
According to Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma’s financial markets committee, the digital ruble is meant to enhance transparency and security. Critics, however, argue that new legislation designed to curb fraud also undermines cryptocurrency use and trading.
The pilot program for the digital ruble began in 2023 with a limited group of participants. Full implementation was initially scheduled for 2025 but has now been delayed to September 1, 2026, with a phased rollout.
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