The mules, known in Russia as “droppers,” are paid to launder funds from illegal, web-based casino platforms. They also facilitate illegal crypto purchases. In recent years, droppers have begun avoiding major banks that use tight anti-money laundering protocols.

Instead, the mules have begun to create accounts on platforms operated by small and medium-sized domestic banks.

The bank says some droppers have also started opening shell companies. They then use these otherwise inactive firms’ business details to apply for corporate cards.

The new Central Bank guidelines include dropper-related protocols for commercial banks and corporate card issuers alike, the news agency Interfax reported.

Russian Central Bank: New Guidelines Will Help Identify Cash and Card Mules

Banks have been told to carefully scrutinize individuals’ transfers to corporate cards operated by suspected shell companies, “and vice versa.”

The guidelines also instruct banks to implement online, real-time monitoring of their clients’ transactions in order to identify new cash mules or shell firms.

The Central Bank also wants financial providers to check if their corporate or private clients have previously transferred money to suspected droppers or possible shell companies.

If they identify any such individuals or companies, banks have been told to issue transfer limits, or bar them from sending money outside working hours.

In April, the bank announced plans to create a national database of droppers in conjunction with the national anti-money laundering agency, the Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring).

Moscow says the mules help finance shadow businesses, particularly online casinos. Government officials say there has been a sharp rise in unregulated online casinos in recent years.

They claim that most of these sites target young, highly vulnerable Russian smartphone users. At least half of Russia’s 80,000-700,000 known droppers are also aged under 23, the Central Bank claims.

The bank also thinks that it thinks a third of these suspected cash mules are non-permanent residents.

Parliamentarians Mull Criminal Liability Proposal

Lawmakers in the State Duma are currently considering a bill that would introduce criminal liability for droppers.

MPs are also mulling a proposal to limit the number of cards individual users can create.

The Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina has claimed that such restrictions would not have any effect on ordinary, law-abiding citizens. She explained that “most citizens do not open hundreds or even thousands of bank accounts.”

Nabiullina favors a card limit of five cards per bank, with a combined total of 20 per individual.

Both the Central Bank and Rosfinmonitoring think that large criminal organizations, including a number of Russian underground casino operators, have started recruiting younger teenagers in their search for new cash mules.

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Per the Russian state-owned newspaper RIA Novosti, the bank has worked on the database with the Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring), the national anti-money laundering agency.

Russian Droppers Recruited by Illegal Casino Operators, Moscow Claims

Russian law enforcement agencies and credit institutions will access the database via a new platform, the Central Bank said.

The bank says that droppers are helping to finance shadow businesses like online casinos. Government officials claim that a growing number of unregulated online casinos have sprung up in Russia in recent years. Many of these, politicians claim, target younger smartphone users.

Bogdan Shablya, the head of the Central Bank’s financial monitoring and currency control department, said that mules conduct much of their business through small and medium-sized banks.

Shablya said the new database “will include a list of the droppers used to finance illicit businesses.”

New Guidelines Incoming

The department chief said that perpetrators are beginning to avoid larger banks with more sophisticated anti-money laundering protocols.

Shablya stated that instead, they prefer to open accounts with banks that the Central Bank considers ill-prepared to fight back.

“The droppers we are talking about are helping to finance shadow businesses. These businesses deal with the illegal purchase of cryptoassets and illegal betting in online casinos. They also trade drugs and pirated content,” Shablya said.

Shablya added that the Central Bank will follow up with legislation or new commercial banking guidelines.

He claimed that the Central Bank wants banks to refuse to open accounts for people whose names appear on the database.

Shablya explained: “We are also preparing a proposal to reduce the level of banking services made available for such individuals. This could restrict them from opening new accounts and possibly disconnect them from remote banking services.”

Moscow is growing increasingly concerned about the rise of droppers. Last month, RBC reported that the Central Bank has already collected information on some 700,00 suspected money mules.

The Central Bank and Rosfinmonitoring claim that criminal organizations, including Russian underground casino operators, are increasingly turning to teenagers in their search for new people to mule.

Fraudsters Targeting Young Russians

In previous comments, Shablya claimed that “about half” of all the people on the database are aged under 23. He said: “They usually live in regions where the income levels are lower than the national average.”

Shablya also claimed that illegal gangs know they can recruit for lower prices in these areas.

Lawmakers are poised to act. The State Duma is currently processing a draft bill to block banks from allowing teenagers aged 14 to 18 to open bank accounts without the consent of their legal representatives.

An explanatory note included with the bill states: “There has been a rise in the number of cases of financial fraud involving minors’ debit cards. Here, criminals buy bank cards from minors and use the cards to transfer funds stolen from fraud victims.”

Fraudsters Use New Schemes to Recruit New Russian Droppers

Experts have also claimed that fraudsters use a myriad of schemes to recruit people who are often unsuspecting.

They explain that some criminal networks try to dupe citizens by making what appear to be erroneous bank transfers.

Citizens unexpectedly receive 100,000 rubles (around $1,200) in their bank accounts. Then, they receive a phone call from someone who claims to have accidentally sent the money.

This individual then tells the unsuspecting citizen to return the money in exchange for a “goodwill gift” of 5,000 rubles ($61).

Central Bank officials claim that this recruitment method is becoming increasingly widespread. They warned citizens to report all such unexpected transfers to their banks.

Police are relatively powerless to punish individuals for transferring their bank cards to third parties. However, lawyers have warned that droppers could be charged as accomplices to certain crimes committed using their bank cards.

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