Criminal Liability for Online Fraud: Types of Penalties Provided by Law

Currently the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains six articles concerning fraud in different spheres. Theoretically, any of these types of fraud can be committed online.

In a recent article, we talked about how to avoid becoming a victim of fraudsters and what to do if this did not help.

A little more than 10 years ago, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation had only one article called "Fraud" - #159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It covered all possible types of violations of the law, which could be regarded as theft of other people's property through abuse of trust and deception.

Now the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains six articles concerning fraud in different spheres:

159 Fraud

159.1. Credit Fraud

159.2. Entitlement Fraud

159.3. Electronic Payment Fraud

159.5. Insurance Fraud

159.6. Cyber Fraud

Theoretically, any of the listed types of fraud can be committed online. The Criminal Code does not provide a separate article for "Online Fraud", so there is often a situation when a person is held liable under several fraud articles.

Article 159.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation represents the most common type of liability imposed for Internet fraud. It was introduced into the Code to combat fraudsters using electronic means of payment and is targeted at regulating the sphere of electronic wallets, banking applications and any other types of electronic payment. It is interesting that the title of this article in the previous version of the law sounded as Fraud with the Use of Payment Cards, but later it was transformed into Electronic Payment Fraud. The means of electronic payments are defined by the Federal Law on the National Payment System No. 161-FZ. In simple terms, it is something (a means, a method, a specific application, a service, etc.) that allows a bank to make a payment on your behalf without using cash.

What types of fraud in this area have been identified by the legislator and what liability is provided for this:

Type of Violation	Liability
Fraud using electronic means of payment (without any clarification and additions)	a fine of up to 120,000 rubles, or a fine in the amount of the convicted person's wages/income for a period of up to 1 year, or compulsory labor for up to 360 hours, or correctional labor for up to 1 year, or restriction of freedom for up to 2 years, or compulsory labor for up to 2 years, or imprisonment for up to 3 years.
Fraud committed by a group of people by prior conspiracy or fraud with significant damage to a citizen (from 5,000 rubles)	a fine of up to 300,000 rubles, or a fine in the amount of the convicted person's wages/income for a period of up to 2 years, or compulsory labor for up to 480 hours, or correctional labor for up to 2 years, or compulsory labor for up to 5 years with restriction of liberty for up to 1 year (or without restriction of liberty), or imprisonment for up to 5 years with restriction of liberty for up to 1 year (or without restriction of liberty).
The types of fraud committed by a person using his or her official position	a fine in the amount of 100,000 to 500,000 rubles, or a fine in the amount of the convicted person's wages/income for a period of up to 3 years, or forced labor for up to 5 years with restriction of freedom for up to 2 years (or without restriction of freedom), or imprisonment for a term of up to 6 years with a fine of up to 80,000 rubles or in the amount of the convicted person's wages/other income for a period of up to six months (or without a fine) with restriction of liberty for a term of up to 1.5 years (or without restriction of liberty).
The types of fraud committed by an organized group or on a particularly large scale (1 million rubles or more)	imprisonment for a term of up to 10 years with a fine of up to 1 million rubles or in the amount of the wages/other income of the convicted person for a period of up to 3 years, or without a fine, or imprisonment for a term of up to 10 years with restriction of liberty for a term of up to 2 years, or without restriction of liberty.

It is obvious that types of punishment are rather variable and only outline the borders, within which more specific types of liability are imposed. Only the court decides what exactly the punishment will be in each specific case. According to the statistics of the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, from 2019 to 2022, 5,295 people were sentenced to different types of punishment for committing crimes under Article 159.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Imprisonment – the most severe sentence - was applied 364 times in 2019, 667 times in 2020, 121 times in 2021, and 24 times in 2022