Russia Faces an 'Epidemic' of Mass Card and Account Blockings

Russian banks have blocked 2–3 million individuals« cards and accounts just at the beginning of 2026. These are the cards and accounts of ordinary citizens who transferred funds to third parties, topped up their accounts on marketplaces, or performed routine transactions that banks deemed suspicious without clear signs of fraud.

This figure is approximately ten times higher than the previous monthly average: previously, banks recorded around 330,000 transaction blocks per month. This surge has prompted a wave of complaints from customers who are not receiving clear explanations for the block or a clear algorithm for its removal.

The reason is that a new order from the Bank of Russia, which doubled the number of criteria for suspicious transactions from 6 to 12, came into force on 1 January 2026, says MSK1.RU Valery Tumin, a member of the Expert Council on Digital Economy Development under the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy.

According to this document, if a transfer meets at least one sign of a fraudulent operation, the bank is obliged to suspend the transaction for two days or deny the operation using payment cards, the System for Fast Payments (SBP), or electronic money.

These measures are intended to reduce customer losses from fraudsters and protect the financial system, but in practice they lead to a situation where ordinary citizens face restrictions without clear justification.

To understand the context of the increased control, it is important to look at the official statistics.

In the third quarter of 2025 (annual statistics are not yet available) banks prevented 28.5 million attempted fraudulent operations, but fraudsters still managed to successfully carry out 460,100 fraudulent operations totaling 8.2 billion rubles (approx. $91 million at current rates).

The effectiveness of protection is growing: according to the same Central Bank, in 2025 only one out of 146 transfers to fraudsters turns out to be successful, whereas a year earlier the figure was significantly worse.

There are risks for conscientious customers

«Card and account blockings are happening more and more often, with banks not providing clear explanations for the reasons. This creates legal uncertainty for customers: people don»t understand by what specific parameters the system considered their transaction suspicious. The customer doesn«t get an algorithm for restoring access; it»s easier for the bank to redirect the request to the Central Bank than to provide detailed information,« explains MSK1.RU lawyer Natalia Potapova, who specializes in personal bankruptcy and debt restructuring.

She says problems arise both for those who sent funds to a third party«s card and for those who simply topped up their account on a marketplace several times in a row. Both large and small transfers are subject to blocking. The amount does not matter; the bank has the right to reject a transfer even for 100 rubles (about $1), says the lawyer.

«A block can follow atypical client behavior, for example, too frequent transfers, unusual amounts, or anomalous transaction times,» explains Potapova.

The system will be fine-tuned for another six months

«The measures are working; the issue for now is just their precision. Anti-fraud system algorithms are set to the strictest settings: better safe than sorry when it comes to missing real fraudsters. This logic is justified from a technical standpoint but can create a number of problems for ordinary people,» says Valery Tumin.

He believes the situation is temporary and will normalize within six months. The systems for «filtering out» suspicious operations will be further trained on real data, weeding out false positives, the expert says. The Central Bank has already obligated banks to disclose specific legal grounds for blockings since August 2025, and since October, major banks have implemented a special button in their apps for prompt communication with victims of fraud, Tumin reminds.

Useful tips from a lawyer

So for now, it seems, the old principle applies: help yourself. Lawyer Natalia Potapova shares with MSK1.RU readers secrets on how to avoid a block if you are a respectable customer:

• Do not transfer money at the request of strangers and do not return funds received «by mistake» without consulting your bank;

• Do not give your card and online banking login details to third parties;

• Avoid paying for goods or services via phone number transfers;

• Indicate the purpose of the payment for transfers—this will help the bank understand the operation«s goal;

• Refrain from using pirated sites, illegal casinos, and anonymous crypto exchangers;

• Inform your bank in a timely manner about changes to your surname, address, or contact phone number;

• Do not use a personal account for conducting business activities.