The head of the Cybercrime Combat Center of the Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan, Zhandos Suynbay, disclosed on March 28th that scammers have defrauded Kazakhstani citizens of 4 billion tenge in the first two months of 2024. Suynbay specified that over 3,000 cases of internet fraud have been recorded during this period.
He highlighted that online services, including government and banking services, are increasingly being utilized by fraudsters. The most common method remains online trading, where scammers often offer goods or services at reduced prices and request advance or full payment. This year alone, over 1,000 such crimes have been registered.
To avoid falling victim to scammers, Suynbay emphasized the importance of using trusted classified ad websites, arranging payment upon receiving the goods, verifying the existence of the product (including through video calls), and, if the seller is in another city, asking acquaintances or relatives to receive and send the item.
On March 26th, it was reported that fraudsters have devised a new deception scheme, sending fake SMS messages on behalf of the postal service to Kazakhstani citizens. Experts strongly advise against trusting such information.
