According to Akylbekov, fraudsters often impersonate law enforcement officials, such as police or the State Committee for National Security (GKNB), as well as representatives of banks—both state and private.
The main feature of these crimes is that they occur without physical contact. Criminals operate through phone calls, messengers, and internet platforms, applying psychological pressure on their victims.
Most often, the victims are elderly people who speak Russian, even at a conversational level.
“Citizens who do not speak Russian are less likely to fall for the tricks of fraudsters. We record numerous statements from victims who disclose their personal data, information about their assets, bank accounts, and passwords. Once fraudsters obtain this information, they can seize other people's money. There have been cases where people took out loans and sent money to fraudsters. Some even sold their property and handed over the proceeds to the criminals,” added Akylbekov.
He noted that measures are being taken at the legislative level to combat this problem. In August 2025, amendments were made to the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic concerning liability for the intentional transfer and sale of electronic funds, wallets, virtual assets, and SIM cards.
“In essence, citizens themselves create conditions for fraud by registering bank cards in their names and providing access to their electronic applications to criminals. This usually happens for a small amount—from 5 to 10 thousand soms. People do this out of ignorance of the law or intentionally. Fraudsters use such accounts to withdraw funds obtained through criminal means. When purchasing a SIM card, one should not transfer access to their messengers to other people. Fraudsters can call from anywhere in the world via WhatsApp and deceive citizens. We are making efforts to solve these crimes,” emphasized the police captain.
From August to December of last year, according to the new amendments, 116 "droppers," or individuals who sold their bank cards, were detained. 30 of them were brought to criminal responsibility.
Aliskhan Akylbekov also noted that after the publication of this article, the number of cybercrimes involving dropper cards significantly decreased.
