THE PROBLEM OF LEGISLATIVE STRUCTURE OF THE BODY OF A CRIME PROVIDED FOR BY ART. 159.6 “CYBER FRAUD” OF THE CRIMINAL CODE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AS A SPECIAL TYPE OF FRAUD

The paper considers the issues related to the legal nature of fraud in the cyber realm; the issues of the legislative structure of the body of a crime provided for by Article 159.6 of the RF Criminal Code. The paper reveals the features of the novelty of the Russian legislation - the elements of cyber fraud as a socially dangerous act, taking into account the possible socially dangerous consequences, the specifics of information relations in the sphere of storage, processing, or transmission of computer information. The authors note that the existing structure of a crime, which is provided for by Art. 159.6 of the RF Criminal Code, and its place in the complex of specific types of fraud, today, are the controversial issues primarily caused by the ways of implementation unique for this act. The paper considers the issue when some mistakes, made while adopting the analyzed norm in 2012, were subsequently corrected by the legislator. The authors study the decisions of judicial practice concerning the problems of classification and delineation of cyber fraud from the related bodies of crimes. As a result of the study, core features of cyber fraud affecting the correct classification of a crime are identified. The authors conclude that the existing legislative structure of the crime provided for by Art. 159.6 of the RF Criminal Code “Cyber Fraud” due to the unique way of commitment, violates the traditional logic of constructing various forms of theft, which causes the comprehensive change in its structure. It is proposed to alter the existing structure of Art. 159.6 of the RF Criminal Code changing the form of embezzlement and its structural arrangement within the criminal law.