The Cyber Security Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has uncovered a criminal scheme that defrauded 456 citizens of more than 1 billion soums (approx. $90,000).

According to preliminary data, the organizer is a 33-year-old resident of Khorezm region. He created a fake copy of the my.gov.uz portal and advertised on Instagram about state compensation and social benefits, using the name of the Ministry of Finance.

Users were promised an automatic transfer of about 30 million soums to their bank cards. They were asked to visit the fake site, fill out a form, and enter their card details.

Instead of receiving payments, the fraudsters gained access to their accounts and stole the money. The investigation revealed that young people aged 20-24 were involved. They handed over 293 drop cards registered to 26 individuals to the criminal group. The stolen funds were then converted into cryptocurrency.

Criminal cases have been opened under Articles 168 (Fraud) and 278-6 (Creation, use or distribution of malicious programs) of the Criminal Code. The investigation is ongoing.

Source: www.gazeta.uz