Armenia to Intensify Fight Against Cyber Fraudsters

The Central Bank of Armenia, in its fight against cyber fraud, intends to build a policy based on a balance between the development of digital services and the financial stability of the system. This was stated by the head of the regulator, Martin Galstyan, answering a question from the ARKA news agency. According to him, when financial services move to the online space, ignoring basic rules of digital hygiene may force the authorities to take steps that would mean a rollback compared to the current level of progress.

Galstyan noted that according to the results of weekly monitoring of new cases of fraud in the banking sector, no new cases have been identified recently, and work is focused on already recorded incidents. At the same time, he stressed that the absence of new episodes does not mean the complete elimination of risks in the future, since digital threats remain extremely dynamic.

The head of the Central Bank called digital fraud one of the most serious problems of the 21st century for the global financial system. Theft of personal data and digital identification is widespread throughout the world, and Armenia, developing online services, faces the same challenges. Against the background of the growth of banking fraud, including fake advertisements on social networks on behalf of banks, the regulator is discussing tightening requirements for identification, primarily when applying for online loans, as well as the possibility of introducing insurance mechanisms against fraudulent actions.