Russia proposes 5 to 10 years in prison for organized dropper schemes under Article 187

The Russian Ministry of Digital Development has proposed tougher criminal liability for dropper activity when it is carried out by a group of people or by prior agreement. For PSPs, processors, and merchants in high-risk verticals, the point is simple: the state is now treating organized card mule setups as a heavier criminal category, not just a side effect of fraud.

1. The proposal would punish organized dropper schemes with 5 to 10 years in prison, plus a fine of up to 1 million rubles, or an amount equal to income for up to 5 years, and up to two years of restricted freedom. That is the penalty package being discussed for cases where the scheme is not run by one person but by a group or in advance conspiracy.
2. This comes after separate criminal liability for dropper activity was introduced in summer 2025, when amendments were added to Article 187 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The article already covers certain unlawful transactions involving someone else’s payment instruments, with punishment that can include imprisonment.
3. The legal logic is moving one step further: if the scheme is organized collectively, the authorities want the punishment to be materially harsher. In plain English, the same behavior stops looking like a one-off helper role and starts looking like organized crime, which changes the sentencing math fast.
4. In practice, droppers most often show up in cases tied to fraudulent call centers, where scammers extract money from victims and the droppers move the funds through payment accounts. The same people also remain active in processing and gambling, where criminal groups keep buying other people’s cards, including teenage and even children’s cards.
5. The demographics are getting younger. According to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the number of minor droppers in Russia increased 48 times over the first 8 months of the current year. The report says fraudsters are increasingly drawing in teenagers from the age of 14, often finding them through social networks.

For high-risk payment businesses, the operational takeaway is not subtle: mule activity is being pulled closer to the center of the enforcement response, especially where organized groups, social-media recruitment, and youth involvement intersect. That matters for card testing, fraud rings, and any processing flow where account ownership and source-of-funds checks are weak.