The "interest-free credit" trap: more than 400 people were scammed
A criminal group that promised interest-free loans to citizens in Tashkent region and embezzled their money has been stopped.
During the operations conducted by the rapid-response officers of the Department for Combating Crimes in the Field of Information Technology of the Tashkent Region IIBB, a criminal group was exposed.
It was determined that members of the group posted advertisements on the internet with the content "we will provide interest-free credit," and invited citizens interested in the offer to pre-rented luxury offices.
They offered citizens to have credit issued in their names. For example, of a 100 million soum credit, 50 million soums would be given to the citizen, the remaining 50 million soums would remain with the company, and the monthly payments on the credit would be paid by the group members themselves, they promised.
Citizens who believed these promises had credit issued through their phones. As a result, credits were obtained in the names of more than 400 citizens, and half of the allocated funds were embezzled by the fraudsters. The total amount of embezzled funds amounted to nearly 17 billion soums. After some time, demands for the collection of credit debt began to be sent to citizens by banks.
Regarding this case, a criminal case was initiated under Article 168 of the Criminal Code (Fraud).
During the pre-investigation examination and rapid-response operations, six members of the group were detained as suspects and taken into custody. Currently, investigative actions regarding the criminal case are ongoing.
The IIBB called on citizens not to trust suspicious offers on the internet such as "interest-free credit," "very low-interest credit," or "credit without documents."
It was also emphasized that one should not be deceived by promises that the credit will be paid by another person. Because if the credit is issued in a citizen's name, the obligation to the bank also remains on them.
