Anatoly Aksakov, the head of the State Duma financial market committee in Russia, has warned citizens about potential fraud schemes targeting users during the upcoming rollout of the digital ruble.
Speaking to state news agency RIA Novosti, Aksakov explained that cybercriminals may attempt to entice unsuspecting individuals by advertising standard currency features, such as zero transfer fees, as exclusive promotional benefits.
Under the rules governing the new national currency, individual money transfers made using digital rubles will incur no commission fees, regardless of the transaction amount or who receives the funds. Aksakov noted that fraudsters are likely to highlight this zero-fee structure as a fictitious incentive to deceive younger people, urging the public to remain vigilant.
Digital ruble transaction fees and security
While transfers between individual citizens will remain entirely free of charge, transactions conducted by corporate legal entities will be subject to a 0.3 percent commission fee, capped at a maximum of 1,500 rubles.
To protect account holders from theft, the digital ruble platform incorporates a dual-authentication security model. Aksakov emphasized that cybercriminals would need to breach two separate protection mechanisms, operated independently by commercial banks and the Central Bank platform, before stealing funds from a user account.
The State Duma is the lower house of the Russian parliament, where the financial market committee oversees legislation governing banking, currency regulations, and consumer protection. RIA Novosti is a major state-owned news agency based in Moscow.
The Central Bank of the Russian Federation has been developing the digital ruble as a central bank digital currency, or CBDC. Designed as a third form of money alongside physical cash and electronic commercial bank deposits, central bank digital currencies are issued directly by a nation's monetary authority and settled on a centralized digital ledger.
Mass rollout scheduled for September
Russia is set to begin the mass implementation phase of the digital ruble starting on September 1.
Recent survey data cited by the source indicated that 16 percent of Russians expressed readiness to receive their regular salary in the new digital currency without demanding any additional conditions.
