Russia's Interior Ministry has announced important rights for fraud victims under the "self-ban" (samozapret) system, which prevents individuals from having loans taken out in their name.
According to the ministry, if a citizen has an active credit ban in their credit history bureau and fraudsters take out a microfinance organization (MFO) loan in their name, the victim can directly apply to the MFO or the Credit History Bureau to demand cancellation of the contract.
The statement emphasized that if microfinance organizations issue a loan without checking an existing ban or in spite of it, they have no right to demand any payment from the borrower.
It was stated that if the person does not have a self-ban record, they must both apply to the MFO to launch an investigation and separately go to the police to file a fraud complaint.
The ministry added that if a criminal case has been opened regarding the incident, the citizen must submit the official document received from the police to the MFO and demand that interest accrual and collection proceedings be stopped.
Authorities also reminded of new regulations to prevent fraud. Starting September 1, 2025, MFOs are obliged to compare the identity information of the person receiving the loan with the information of the bank account holder to whom the payment will be made. Starting March 1, 2026, all online loans will only be disbursed after identity verification through the Unified Biometric System.