A new problem has started to spread widely in Russia: criminals create fake versions of banking apps and start sharing their links on various platforms, or emailing those links to people and even calling them and convincing them to download their app.

After 2022, a third of Russians have at least once encountered malicious clones of banking mobile applications on the Internet. This is reported by TASS, citing the study of ITFB Group.

After the imposition of sanctions against Russian banks, their mobile applications began to disappear from the App Store and Google Play. At the same time, according to the ITFB Group, their fake copies began to be actively distributed through various channels.

In particular, 44% of the respondents stated that they have come across links to malicious clones of bank mobile applications in social networks, instant messengers and e-mails.

More than a third (35%) of Russians have had scammers call them and ask them to install their "update". 12% of survey participants encountered malicious programs on official platforms. Another 9% encountered such clone applications on phishing websites.

Due to the increased threat of being trapped by criminals, 42% of respondents started keeping only a small amount of money on their bank cards, while 9% started withdrawing all the money completely. Every fifth person (22%), on the contrary, keeps all their savings on the card.

The ITFB Group survey was conducted from August 18 to September 28, 2023. About 2,500 thousand people took part in it.