Kuwait jails 2 Egyptians 7 years over KD 161,000 web scam

Two men walked out of a Kuwait courtroom this week with a 7-year prison sentence each, a fine of KD 5,520 apiece, and a case file that traced back to small, almost invisible bank transfers people barely noticed leaving their accounts.

That’s how this story ends. But it started quietly, with fake websites that looked just real enough to fool people into typing in their card details.

This isn’t the first time Kuwait’s courts have dealt with online money schemes this year. Our site has covered a visa approval scam that wiped out a bank balance and an online shopping scam that cost a Kuwait shopper 200 dinars. This latest case, though, is bigger in scale and involved a more organised setup.

How the scheme actually worked

According to investigators from the General Department for Combating Economic Crimes, an unidentified person built fake websites made to look like real telecommunications companies and government bodies. These sites were promoted through attractive adverts on social media, the kind many of us scroll past every day.

Victims were allegedly tricked into making payments through bank transactions under KD 25. That amount matters: transfers below that threshold didn’t need a verification code at the time, so victims never got a second chance to notice something was wrong before their money left their account.

The payments went through the websites and payment links of two companies named in the case. From there, investigators say the money was moved out of Kuwait. The group allegedly used the two companies, along with cryptocurrency platforms and apps operating in Egypt, to shift the funds and avoid scrutiny from Egypt’s Central Bank.

Why some victims got their money back

Here’s the part that adds a twist to the story. Investigators found that whoever ran the scheme allegedly arranged for some victims who complained to get partial refunds.

The refunds weren’t generosity. They were reportedly a way to make the companies look clean, so that anyone checking the books would assume the business was legitimate and the complaints were isolated mistakes.

On top of that, the investigation uncovered falsified shipping documents, manipulated prices, and the use of fictitious addresses, all designed to give the fraudulent transactions a legitimate paper trail.

Who was cleared, and who wasn’t

The court, led by Judge Al-Duwaihi Al-Duwaihi with Judges Bader Al-Shihab and Ibrahim Khuraibet, and court secretary Mohammed Malallah, acquitted a Kuwaiti citizen and another Egyptian national who had also faced charges in the same case.

The ruling also ordered that the judgment be published in Kuwait’s Official Gazette, which is standard for cases involving financial crimes of this size.

What this means if you live in Kuwait

This case is a useful example for anyone who shops, pays bills, or applies for services online in Kuwait, whether you’re a citizen or an expat. Scammers don’t always need to steal a large sum in one go. Small transactions under KD 25, the kind that don’t ask for extra verification, can add up fast across many victims.

If you’ve recently clicked on an advert for a telecom top-up, a government fee, or a renewal service, it’s worth checking the website address carefully. Real government and telecom sites don’t usually appear through flashy social media ads.

We’ve also seen Kuwait’s authorities warn people about related money schemes, including a warning over phone and SIM resale cash schemes. Taken together, these cases point to the same pattern: criminals using everyday digital habits, small payments, phone numbers, SIM cards, against people who are just trying to get something done quickly online.

Kuwait’s courts have been active on financial and cyber-related cases in recent weeks. A separate case saw a Kuwait court jail 8 expats for money laundering, and another resulted in five people jailed over social media cases, a reminder that resharing or engaging with suspicious financial posts online can carry real legal risk. You can follow more of these rulings in our local news coverage.

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