Fraudsters.net: United Metallurgical Company (UMC) volunteers providing training for senior Moscow citizens on financial literacy

28.08.2020

Fraudsters.net, the winner of the UMC Partnership competition for social and charitable projects, is organising five training sessions for senior Muscovites on financial literacy, the first of which has already taken place.

“Fraudsters posing as bank security officers have been calling old-age pensioners on a regular basis, asking them to disclose their bank card details or demanding that they urgently transfer money into a different account. The media covered one such case recently where a pensioner had transferred four million roubles of her life savings to fraudsters. Our project is designed to provide this vulnerable group with financial literacy training which we hope will help prevent such distressing experiences from happening to them in future”, said Anastasia Vlasova, the site’s project developer and UMC employee.

The project is also being supported by the authorities in the Khoroshevsky region of Moscow, together with Veterans’ Council No.9 in the Sokol District. The first training session was led by Mikhail Ivanov, a psychologist and civil activist from Sokol and a former bank employee.

“This year, Central Bank will be submitting amendments to existing legislation on the opening of accounts and the transfer of large sums of money without the account holder’s permission, which will discuss the use of a customer’s biometric data. According to statistics, 40% of bank employees fail to follow rules for establishing a customer’s true identity. Security procedures operated by banks are also inadequate and can be easily exploited by fraudsters. This is why such volunteer initiatives that offer practical advice on how people can protect their personal finances are so valuable”, said Olga Mironova, head of Corporate Social Responsibility at UMC.

The UMC Partnership’s competition for charitable and social projects has been held every year since 2015. Its main aim is to bring together a partnership of agencies, businesses and society to try and resolve regional social problems. Employees from UMC enterprises, NGOs and State and regional municipal authorities in areas where the company has a presence are eligible to take part.

People can sign up for financial literacy sessions by calling: +7-916 132 55 01 or by contacting the Veterans’ Council at 10 Volokolamsky Street, Moscow.

Source:https://www.asi.org.ru/news/2020/08/28/moshennikov-net-uroki-finansovoi-gramotnosti-dlia-pohilih/