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Russia Creates Database to Track and Block Cybercriminals

Prosecutor General Alexander Gutsan. Valery Sharifulin / TASS

Russia has built a unified database of “digital traces” of cybercriminals to help authorities track down and block fraudulent networks, the newly appointed Prosecutor General Alexander Gutsan said Tuesday.

The new system contains data on more than 6 million phone numbers, bank accounts and websites linked to cybercrime, Gutsan said at a meeting of ex-Soviet prosecutors general in Tajikistan.

“The database allows us to detect serial offenses, shut down scam call centers, freeze criminal assets and in many cases prevent crimes altogether,” Gutsan said.

He framed the new measures as part of a wider crackdown on digital crime and anonymity. In recent months, Russia has criminalized the sale or transfer of mobile phone numbers, restricted virtual private networks (VPNs) and tightened controls over online transactions and digital currencies.

Gutsan estimated that cybercrime now accounts for 40% of all reported crimes in Russia, with losses amounting to “hundreds of billions of rubles,” one-quarter of which were stolen from individuals.

He warned that criminals have “no moral barriers” to keep them from exploiting social engineering, encrypted communications and cross-border financial tools to target victims.

The cybercrime-tracking database was developed jointly with police, the Central Bank and Russia’s anti-money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog Rosfinmonitoring, he said.

The initiative follows the government’s proposal this summer to establish a national anti-fraud system that would automatically collect and block suspicious phone numbers, texts and online accounts used in scams.

That plan was part of a broader legislative package imposing limits on SIM cards and bank cards to curb financial fraud.

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