MOSCOW, December 9. /TASS/. Fraudsters have reduced the use of social engineering methods in the theft of funds by 29.22% to 20,300 cases in the Q3 2024 in comparison with the average value for the past four quarters, the Bank of Russia said.

At the same time, the number of phishing attacks decreased by 28.02% to 835 cases, and the number of attacks using malware decreased by 63.08% to 24 cases, the regulator noted.

According to the Central Bank, the number of DDoS attacks also increased by 18.63% to 121 cases. The number of other attacks decreased by a third to 47 cases in the third quarter of 2024.

In addition, the Bank of Russia statistics show that in the Q3 12,190 requests for blocking were sent to the Russian General Prosecutor's Office and domain name registrars, of which 1,757 requests were filed in connection with unlicensed activities, 7,700 requests - phishing resources, 2,740 requests - financial pyramids.

The Bank of Russia also noted that the number of banking transactions without the voluntary consent of clients in the Q3 2024 amounted to 348,590, their volume reached 9.3 bln rubles ($92.45 mln). At the same time, the share of returned funds from the total volume of such transactions amounted to 11.9%.

During the reporting period, 16.1 mln transactions without the consent of clients were prevented for more than 4.9 trillion rubles ($48.7 bln).

In July-September 2024, Russian banks also repelled 16.1 mln fraud cyberattacks on customer accounts and prevented the theft of 4.9 trillion rubles ($49.37 bln). However, in the Q3, criminals managed to steal 9.3 bln rubles ($34.91 mln) from people’s accounts.

"In July-September 2024, banks repelled 16.1 mln cyber fraud attacks on customer accounts and prevented the theft of 4.9 trillion rubles. The volume of saved savings is 3 times more than a year earlier," the regulator said.

The recorded losses in July-September significantly exceeded the average values of the previous four quarters. "Banks reported that criminals stole 9.3 bln rubles in the Q3. At the same time, slightly more than 40% of this amount came from online banking and transfers, although previously the most significant losses came from transactions using cards," the Bank of Russia said.

In addition, the Bank of Russia initiated the blocking of 12,100 fraudulent websites and pages in social networks in the Q3, and sent information on 42,100 telephone numbers of perpetrators to telecom operators.

On July 25, 2024, a law came into force in Russia, under which banks are obliged to suspend transfers for two days if information about the recipient of the money is included in the Bank of Russia's database on cases and attempts of fraudulent transactions. Otherwise, the credit institution must return the money to the client within 30 calendar days.