At the IX Eastern Economic Forum, Stanislav Kuznetsov, the deputy chairman of the board at Sberbank, highlighted a troubling trend: telephone fraud has reached epidemic proportions in many regions. He observed that scams conducted over the phone are spreading globally, impacting everyday citizens on a massive scale. According to Kuznetsov, there are still no universally effective defenses or treatments, which leaves individuals increasingly exposed to deception and financial loss. He stressed that the current landscape demands urgent attention from policymakers, financial institutions, and technology providers alike, because the problem is not isolated to any one country but reflects a broader vulnerability in how people verify identities and handle sensitive information over voice channels.
During his remarks, Kuznetsov pointed to a sharp rise in synthetic media and impersonation via deepfakes as a key driver of the surge in incidents. He noted that the volume and sophistication of these threats have grown dramatically, with a reported thirtyfold increase in deepfake activity since the start of the year. This shift compounds risk for consumers who may be lured by convincing but fraudulent audio or video cues, and it challenges traditional authentication methods that rely on callers claiming to be representatives of banks or other trusted institutions. The implication is clear: fraud prevention must evolve alongside these new technologies, integrating user education, enhanced verification processes, and robust monitoring to detect and disrupt attempts before they can cause harm.
Earlier in the discussion, Kuznetsov evaluated a protective service designed to shield citizens from fake calls. The approach centers on a caller identifier that can be activated within the Sberbank Online mobile application at no cost to users. The feature has gained traction, with around 1.5 million people currently leveraging it to reduce the likelihood of successful impersonation. The initiative illustrates how financial institutions can leverage digital tools to empower customers to distinguish legitimate communications from fraudulent ones, reinforcing the importance of accessible, frictionless security features that blend into daily banking routines. As more people adopt such protections, the overall resilience of financial ecosystems against voice-based deception is expected to improve, though ongoing vigilance and user education remain essential components of a comprehensive defense strategy.