Fraud

What is fraud in simple words

Fraud (from the English fraud — deception or scam) is any type of internet fraud whose goal is to steal money, seize other people's data or obtain illegal benefit using technology. The term arose in the banking sphere when fraudsters tried to deceive the security system during credit card operations, but now it covers all areas of the digital economy.

According to experts, business losses from cyber fraud in 2025 exceeded 1.2 trillion rubles, with 65% of attacks occurring in the banking sector. Every year millions of Russians become victims of fraud, and the average damage per victim is about 150,000 rubles.

Depending on the sphere, fraud manifests itself in different ways. In banks and finance, it is the theft of money from cards, hacking of personal accounts, taking out loans in someone else's name or phishing (when you are asked to enter data on a fake website). In advertising, it is click and view inflation using special bot programs. In online stores, it is creating fake accounts, using stolen points or placing orders from stolen bank cards.

Anti-fraud systems are used to protect against fraud — complex algorithms that analyze user actions and block suspicious operations. You can learn more about how it works on the fraud monitoring page.

The Fintech company offers modern solutions for protecting business from fraud. Our product SINTeZ-M provides secure document workflow and data encryption, which minimizes the risks of fraud.

Main types of fraud

Fraud takes many forms. Let us consider the most common types of deception in the digital environment.

1. Financial and banking fraud

This is the most dangerous type of fraud, since it causes direct financial damage. It includes:

• Carding: using stolen bank card data to pay for purchases or withdraw cash.
• Phishing: creating fake websites of banks or payment systems to steal logins and passwords.
• Telephone fraud (vishing): calls from "bank employees" demanding a transfer of money to a "safe account".
• Skimming: installing hidden reading devices on ATMs to steal card data.

To combat banking fraud, fraud monitoring systems are used that analyze transactions in real time.

2. Ad fraud

This is fraud in digital advertising where attackers generate fake clicks, impressions or application installations using bots and click farms. The advertiser pays for non-existent users, and the budget is wasted.

Signs of ad fraud:

• Abnormal traffic spikes at night.
• Suspiciously high CTR (click-through) with zero conversion.
• The same IP addresses for hundreds of different actions.

Anti-fraud systems that filter bot traffic help combat this.

3. E-commerce fraud

Fraud in online stores and marketplaces. Main schemes:

• Purchases with stolen cards: attackers use compromised payment data.
• Multi-accounting: creating many fake profiles to obtain bonuses, promo codes and discounts.
• Chargeback fraud: a buyer receives the goods and then disputes the payment with the bank, getting the money back.

Anti-fraud solutions that check each order for signs of fraud are used to protect e-commerce stores.

4. Internal (corporate) fraud

Fraud by company employees. Examples:

• Theft of confidential data or the client base.
• Manipulating reporting to obtain bonuses.
• Using working time for personal purposes (time fraud).
• Registering fictitious employees ("dead souls") to receive salaries.

To prevent internal fraud, it is important to implement DLP (Data Loss Prevention) systems and conduct regular information security audit.

5. Cryptocurrency fraud

With the growth in popularity of cryptocurrencies, new types of fraud have appeared:

• Scam projects: the creators of a cryptocurrency or token disappear with investors' money.
• Phishing wallets: fake applications for storing cryptocurrency.
• Attacks on smart contracts: exploiting vulnerabilities in code to steal funds.

About how to protect your crypto assets, read the article Cryptocurrency.

How to recognize fraud

The main signs of fraud that you should pay attention to:

• Unexpected calls or messages from "bank employees" or "law enforcement".
• Requests to disclose the SMS code or transfer money to a "safe account".
• Suspicious links in emails and messengers leading to sites with a URL that differs by one letter from the official one.
• Unrealistically profitable offers with a limited action period — "special offer only today", "3 places left".
• Pressure and haste — you are rushed, not given time to think or consult with loved ones.

Read more about the signs of fraud in the article Information security.

How to protect against fraud

An integrated approach is required for effective protection against fraud.

1. Implementation of anti-fraud systems

Modern anti-fraud systems use machine learning and artificial intelligence to analyze user behavior. They evaluate hundreds of parameters: geolocation, device, operation time, transaction history. If the system records deviations from the usual pattern, the operation is blocked or sent for additional verification.

Read more about how such systems work in the article Fraud monitoring.

2. Employee training

The human factor remains one of the main causes of successful attacks. Regularly train employees on cybersecurity rules: how to recognize phishing emails, not click suspicious links and not disclose confidential information.

3. Multi-factor authentication

Implementing two-factor authentication (2FA) significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access. Even if an attacker steals the password, he will not be able to enter the account without an additional code from SMS or an authenticator application.

4. Data encryption

The use of cryptographic data protection tools (CIPF) guarantees that even if data are intercepted, they remain unreadable to attackers. About how encryption works, read the article Encryption.

Liability for fraud

In Russia, fraud, including in the digital sphere, is regulated by Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The penalty depends on the amount of damage:

• Up to 2,500 rubles: administrative liability under Article 7.27 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation.
• From 2,500 to 250,000 rubles: criminal liability under Part 1 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (up to 2 years of imprisonment).
• From 250,000 rubles (major damage): up to 5 years of imprisonment.
• From 1,000,000 rubles (especially large scale): up to 10 years of imprisonment.

For crimes in the sphere of computer information there is a separate Article 159.6 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which stiffens penalties for fraud using digital technologies.