Hackers have launched a massive attack on two countries that are among the poorest countries in the world. There are such countries - Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. These are former USSR republics in Central Asia. But we’ll talk about the history of these countries and their geography later. First, we’ll tell you what kind of campaign the cybercriminals organized. Hackers offer residents of these countries non-existent government payments and “passive income with the support of the Ministry.”

To deceive Uzbeks and Tajiks, criminals have specially prepared more than 300 resources, which are outwardly designed as official information or news sites. Visitors to these fake sites are told about a supposedly valid, but in fact non-existent, “people's social program”, according to which absolutely all citizens of the country are entitled to financial assistance. For residents of Uzbekistan, for example, the size of the fictitious payment reaches 15 million soums weekly. During this campaign, hackers use two main types of bait to deceive. In the first case, a person ends up on a one-page website with a short story about the program and a questionnaire for receiving money. In the second case, the resource copies the design of a regional media outlet that actually exists in the country and publishes a fake editorial about government support. Of course, visitors to these sites are invited to take surveys and fill out questionnaires. The scheme is based on real social engineering: government issues, promises of financial assistance, which are confirmed by statements from the “official media,” should inspire trust and convince a person to leave contact information. After filling out the form, the potential victim receives a call from an attacker who introduces himself as a personal manager. The further scenario depends on the actions of the scammers. Under the pretext of “registration in the system” or “identity confirmation,” the interlocutor may demand to install a malicious mobile application. Sometimes criminals also request a scan of a passport, thereby obtaining additional personal data of the victim. The promise of a large regular payment is only the first stage of the attack. Of course, there is no government program described on fraudulent websites, and criminals need the questionnaire to obtain contacts and further continue communication directly with the chosen victim in order to steal money from him in various ways. The scammers who call victims are also citizens or natives of these countries - Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. It's logical. How many people can be found in the world who will study Uzbek and Tajik languages? No, of course not. Who needs these countries? But, apparently, Uzbek and Tajik hackers (this formulation sounds very strange in relation to these third world countries) decided to rob their already poor relatives. The fact is that in the early 90s of the last century, these republics declared independence, declaring that they could develop independently. But now their economy is so destroyed that most of the citizens of these countries leave to earn money in other countries, mainly in Russia. Uzbeks and Tajiks send money earned with great difficulty from hard work in other countries to their relatives. And now the same Uzbeks and Tajiks have decided to rob their own compatriots, who with great difficulty manage to earn their bread. Wild nations, they have no mutual assistance.