Expert reports rise in romance scams in Armenia

Armenia saw a sharp increase in investment fraud and phishing scams over the past two years, cybersecurity expert and CyberHUB-AM co-founder Artur Papyan warned.

At a press conference on Thursday, he also reported a rise in romance scams, where fraudsters from abroad establish online romantic relationships with Armenian citizens only to exploit them financially.

According to Papyan, the wave of phishing scams has intensified since 2022, when migrants from Russia and Ukraine arrived in Armenia.

"We've observed growing willingness among people to use electronic payment systems, which is attributed to the expansion of e-commerce in Armenia. As online financial transactions have increased, so have fraudulent schemes targeting users," he explained.

Speaking at the press conference, Mariam Tovmasyan, head of the Fraud Prevention Department at the Central Bank of Armenia, stated that most financial scams involve criminals gaining access to consumers' personal data by exploiting their trust.

"The most common schemes we've encountered recently involve fraudsters sending malicious links to consumers. Many users click on these links without verifying their sources and enter their personal data. In many cases, scammers impersonate financial institutions to deceive people," Tovmasyan added.