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Cyber fraudsters steal $16.29 mln from Russian companies in six months

According to the Bank of Russia, banks prevented around 34 mln attempted thefts totaling approximately $43.05 bln in the first half of the year

NOVOSIBIRSK, August 28. /TASS/. Russian businesses suffered 1.4 bln rubles ($16.29 mln) in losses from cyber fraud in the first half of 2026. This was nearly three times as much as in the same period last year, cybersecurity expert at the Bank of Russia’s Siberian Main Branch Oleg Savva told TASS in an interview.

"[There were] around 1,600 thefts totaling 1.4 bln rubles in the first half of 2026," he said.

The expert specified that the amount stood at 480 mln rubles ($5.58 mln) in the first half of 2025. The number of unauthorized transactions involving corporate entities increased by 10% year-on-year.

Savva noted that IT fraudsters primarily prefer to carry out targeted attacks on accounting and finance departments. Social engineering remains a common method of manipulating victims, including intimidation, requests to install remote-access applications, and instructions to transfer funds to a "safe" account.

According to the Bank of Russia, banks prevented around 34 mln attempted thefts totaling approximately 3.7 trillion rubles ($43.05 bln) in the first half of the year. Fraudsters managed to carry out 954,000 successful transactions, stealing around 14.8 bln rubles ($172.19 mln). The amount stolen increased by 12% year-on-year, while the number of such transactions rose by 68%. This trend resulted in a decline in the average amount stolen per transaction.

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