The Federation Council warned about a new fraud scheme involving the digital ruble. As Senator Artyom Sheikin stated, fraudsters have started using it to deceive sellers on classified ad platforms: a fake buyer claims to have already paid for the item and offers to follow a link, scan a QR code, or enter banking app details to receive the money.

The scheme relies on ignorance of the digital ruble's mechanics. In a regular transfer, the sender specifies the recipient's phone number, enters the amount, and confirms the transaction. After this, the money is automatically credited to the digital ruble account — the seller does not need to separately "collect" the transfer.

With a QR code, the logic is also reversed: for payment, the buyer scans it, then checks the amount and seller's details, and confirms the payment. Therefore, a request for the seller to scan a sent code supposedly to receive money should raise suspicion.

According to Sheikin, such a QR code can lead to a phishing website where the user will be asked for a login, password, card details, or a confirmation code. As a result, instead of receiving payment, the person risks giving fraudsters access to their banking data.

The receipt of digital rubles should be checked independently in the banking application. If the money has not appeared in the account, the item should not be handed over to the buyer.