YEREVAN, March 17. /ARKA/. The Central Bank of Armenia, together with banks, is ready to introduce stricter mechanisms to prevent telephone fraud, stated regulator head Martin Galstyan, responding to a question from the ARKA news agency.
“It is possible that stricter identification mechanisms will be used, but, naturally, this will consume time and resources,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Galstyan also noted that the best form of protection lies in increased customer vigilance, since all other possible options available to the regulator entail costs, primarily for society.
“We will force our citizens to visit banks, spend time, and identify themselves physically, rather than electronically or through payment systems, which naturally entails costs,” he said.
In this regard, the head of the regulator recalled that a “stop button” is expected to be implemented in Armenia starting July 1, 2026. This will allow citizens to ban online loans and other remote financial transactions with a single action, and the restriction can only be lifted after identifying the client.
According to him, this will cause some inconvenience, as people will have to leave the online format and come to the bank to apply for an online loan, but it will also protect them.
Last week, the Central Bank of Armenia warned of a rise in telephone fraud in the country and urged citizens to be vigilant.
The regulator stated that scammers often pose as telecommunications employees and contact citizens (mainly through WhatsApp), asking them to perform specific actions in their phone settings to improve their internet connection or activate the 5G network.
The Central Bank noted that if a citizen performs the actions specified by the scammer, the scammer can remotely control the phone and access banking applications, personal data, and accounts, which could lead to financial losses.
