Problems of Criminal Law Regulation and Qualification of Acts Committed Using Electronic Means of Payment

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of the provisions of the criminal law providing for responsibility for the theft of funds in a bank account and electronic money. Special attention is paid to the problems of qualifying deception as a method of committing fraud using electronic means of payment, its difference from deception, which can be used to secretly steal electronic funds. The article reveals the need to formulate the concept of deception in a crime under Art. 159.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The topical issues of qualification of fraud using electronic means of payment are investigated, taking into account changes in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the wording of the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. The analysis of judicial practice of various subjects of the Russian Federation on the qualification of crimes using payment cards is carried out. The main problems of qualification of thefts, special elements of fraud, other related elements of crimes, for which electronic means of payment are used, are considered. It is concluded that there is no consensus among lawyers and law enforcers on the qualification of theft using payment bank cards, which leads to disparate judicial practice on the crimes in question. Proposals are put forward to solve the identified problems. A forecast is made about an increase in the number of crimes using electronic means of payment. The legislator is invited to develop a unified approach in describing the signs of crimes committed with the help of modern computer technologies, and law enforcement agencies to develop relevant methods for preventing, detecting and counteracting them, as well as to develop a unified approach to the qualification of these crimes.