The subject of the research is the criminogenic risks arising from the use of electronic payment instruments (hereinafter - EPI), as well as the theoretical and practical aspects of their classification and assessment within the framework of a risk-oriented approach. The relevance of the topic is due to the rapid digitalization of the financial sector, the increase in the number of crimes using information and telecommunications technologies (in 2025, 675.4 thousand such crimes were recorded - 38.1% of the total number of registered crimes, with material damage amounting to 767.8 billion rubles; according to the Bank of Russia, 980.46 thousand fraudulent operations using payment cards amounting to 29.3 billion rubles were committed), and the adoption of Federal Law No. 176-FZ of June 24, 2025, which introduces criminal liability for the illegal circulation of existing payment instruments. The methodological basis of the research is the dialectical method of cognition. The study employs a formal-legal method (analysis of regulatory legal acts), statistical methods (processing data from the Main Information and Analytical Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and the Bank of Russia), modeling methods (constructing a risk matrix), as well as the generalization of empirical materials from the author's dissertation research. The scientific novelty lies in clarifying the concept of "criminological risk" as applied to the sphere of digital finance, developing an author's classification of criminogenic risks of electronic payment instruments based on two criteria (severity of consequences and degree of public danger), and constructing a two-factor matrix that allows a visual correlation between the probability of harm occurring and its potential severity. Conclusions. The proposed classification and matrix can be used to improve criminal law norms (paragraph "g" of part 3 of Article 158, Article 159, Article 159.3, Article 187 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), optimize risk management systems in credit and financial organizations, enhance measures to prevent modern types of theft, and implement a risk-oriented approach in the law enforcement activities of internal affairs bodies.
Stanislav Nikolaevich Ushchekin (2026) studied this question.