A woman in the Bukhara region fell victim to Telegram scammers who posed as Central Bank employees, losing more than 1 billion soums. The cybercriminals cashed out the money through drop cards and converted part of it into cryptocurrency.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the incident occurred in December 2025, and the details of the scheme were revealed on May 10.

The scammers contacted the woman via Telegram, pretending to be Central Bank staff. They claimed that commercial bank employees were allegedly trying to steal her savings and advised her to transfer funds to 'safe cards.'

As a result, the victim transferred all her money from four different banks to the specified accounts. The total damage amounted to 1 billion 9 million soums.

According to the investigation, the criminals cashed out the money through drop cards in several regions. These cards were registered in the names of various citizens in Tashkent, Khorezm, Andijan, and other areas. Even minors and students were involved in the scheme, selling their bank cards to intermediaries for between 100,000 and 1 million soums.

The obtained funds were withdrawn from ATMs in different cities or converted into cryptocurrency.

Officers of the Cybercrime Department of the Bukhara Region Internal Affairs Directorate detained two main organizers of the criminal group during an operation in Tashkent.

During a search of their expensive cars, dozens of phones, SIM cards, and over 100 million soums in cash were seized.

A criminal case has been opened against the suspects under Article 168, Part 4, Clause 'a' of the Criminal Code. The stolen 1 billion 9 million soums have been fully recovered and returned to the victim.

Source: kun.uz