Bank of Russia Adds 2,600 Crypto Wallets to Suspicious Registry

The Central Bank of Russia announced the identification of 2,600 cryptocurrency wallets whose owners are suspected by the regulator of engaging in illegal activities. According to the Bank of Russia, these addresses belong to legal entities, various projects, and individual entrepreneurs.

Over the period of their existence, these wallets received cryptocurrency totaling approximately 1 billion rubles, the country’s main financial regulator stated.

The 2,600 addresses were added to a specialized information system accessible to government bodies, including law enforcement agencies. This system is used by banks and law enforcement to assess clients’ risk profiles and conduct financial investigations. Essentially, it functions as a “blacklist”: if a transaction involves an address from this system, the banking operation is highly likely to be blocked.

In 74% of cases, the assets in question are digital currencies used by financial pyramids and scammers, the Central Bank of Russia noted. Fraudsters offer investments in cryptocurrency and mining, solicit funds for fake data centers, and coerce victims into buying tokens issued by the scammers themselves. The Central Bank identified crypto loans as a popular scheme, where Russians borrow USDT stablecoins in dollars outside the official financial system.

Regarding new fraud cases, experts from the company F6 reported that scammers are offering to pay for tickets to both concerts of American rapper Kanye West in Russia using cryptocurrency through fake websites. Security experts from the Russian company noted that since August 17, at least 10 websites in the .ru, .com, .site, and .shop domain zones have been identified that masquerade as official resources for Kanye West’s Russian tour.

Previously, representatives of the organization “Moshelovka” reported on scammers offering Russians access to cryptocurrency trading via the Moscow Exchange.