In 2024, the Central Bank blocked funds stolen by fraudsters amounting to 9.5 billion sums. This information was reported by Spot from the press service of the agency.
The Central Bank received 2,502 requests from law enforcement agencies for information that constitutes banking secrecy. Additionally, the regulator processed 460 inquiries related to fraud cases.
As a result of the banks' operational measures based on the directives from the Central Bank, funds totaling 9.5 billion sums were blocked on bank cards that received illegally appropriated money.
Furthermore, the agency detailed popular fraud schemes. For instance, fraudsters contact individuals through fake phone numbers using SIP technologies, posing as employees of a bank, payment organization, Central Bank, or law enforcement agencies. They may also disclose personal data of citizens collected through the installation of malicious applications on their phones.
Subsequently, the fraudsters inform the victim that their money is "at risk" because someone is attempting to take out a loan in their name. Following this, another fraudster contacts the victim, impersonating a security specialist from the Central Bank and providing false identification.
To prevent such threats, the Central Bank is implementing a series of anti-fraud measures. In particular, during audio or video calls, the use of banking mobile applications is restricted. Furthermore, the registration and login functions from another device in mobile applications are only available from within Uzbekistan.
Additionally, new users who register in the mobile applications of banks and payment organizations are restricted from using linked bank cards for one hour.
Previously, Spot reported that the Central Bank prevented the issuance of online loans by fraudsters amounting to 285 billion sums.