Russian authorities are considering the possibility of imposing restrictions on messenger accounts if they are registered to SIM cards that have been in roaming for an extended period. As reported by Izvestia, the head of Roskomnadzor, Andrey Lipov, stated that the corresponding proposal has already been submitted to the government.
In his opinion, this measure will help combat telephone fraudsters. "Fraudsters do not cease their activities and are now using Russian SIM cards to make calls from abroad. <…> For accounts linked to such numbers, platforms could impose temporary and partial restrictions," Lipov explained. Additionally, telecom operators will be required to clean their databases of "fake users" who use Russian SIM cards while roaming. Blocking will be carried out based on data from Roskomnadzor. At the same time, the agency intends to develop a "system of exceptions for law-abiding Russians traveling abroad for tourism or work purposes." Authorities also plan to oblige messengers to restrict calls from accounts registered to foreign numbers. As Lipov noted, it will only be possible to reach a subscriber in Russia if they add the foreign SIM card number to a "whitelist." Previously, Russian banks reported issues in working with clients due to spam call blocking. New regulations requiring operators to block mass calls have begun to negatively impact the system for combating fraudulent transactions, particularly when banks need to contact a client to confirm a transaction.