MOSCOW, October 28. /TASS/. The pool of entities with Ponzi scheme signs identified by the Central Bank as of the end of January - September 2024 increased by more than 1.5 times year on year, the Bank of Russia said.

"More than 3,400 with pyramid scheme signs; more than 1,300 with illegal lending signs, and more than 1,100 with signs of illegal professional players in the securities market. The number of identified Internet projects with signs of financial pyramids, including pseudo-investment projects, surged by 59% year on year, and for pseudo-brokers - by 78%," the regulator said.

More than 57% of all "illegal entities" found in nine months of this year are projects with signs of pyramid schemes and pseudo-investment schemes, the Central Bank noted.

Pseudo-investment services were also offered by illegal forex dealers, brokers and managers. Over nine months of 2024, the Bank of Russia detected 78% more entities with signs of illegal participants in the financial market than in the same period of the last year. These are mainly illegal forex dealers. Fifty-two projects of illegal brokers and managers were found in total.