Armenian Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan stated in parliament that several cases were recorded in 2025 in which citizens lost money because of weak security mechanisms in the banking system.

She said banks had been required to eliminate existing security vulnerabilities, according to Armenpress.

According to Vardapetyan, some victims had previously been unable to obtain loans, yet loans were issued in their names due to fraud schemes and insufficient protection of digital tools. She stressed that the affected citizens had taken no actions that could have contributed to the fraud.

“These individuals had no involvement, did not share any data with anyone and did not follow any suspicious links,” the prosecutor general said.

She noted that, taking these circumstances into account, a formal submission was sent to the chairman of the Central Bank, while discussions were also held with the Union of Banks. Vardapetyan said banks themselves had been recognized as victims in the criminal proceedings, although the banking sector initially disagreed with that approach.

“Law enforcement bodies had a different opinion,” she emphasized.

According to the prosecutor general, banks received official demands to strengthen their security systems in order to better protect citizens’ rights.

“A few months later, all the vulnerable security points that existed in those banks appeared to have been eliminated,” she said, adding that no further fraud cases using similar schemes had been recorded afterward.

At the same time, Vardapetyan noted that other cyberfraud incidents are mostly linked to insufficient digital literacy among citizens.

“Citizens themselves provide certain codes and follow certain links,” she said.

The prosecutor general also said banks had been advised to hire additional staff capable of verifying suspicious transactions through phone calls, though she acknowledged that such checks are difficult to implement for every operation.

According to Vardapetyan, a separate unit dealing exclusively with cybercrime has been established within the prosecutor’s office over the past year.

“Specialized prosecutors constantly participate in international seminars and webinars to stay informed about tools used on the darknet and investigative mechanisms related to them,” she said.

Vardapetyan added that the quality of cybercrime investigations has significantly improved in recent years and months.