Money mules

Starting January 1, 2026, banks in Kazakhstan will be required to retain ATM video recordings for at least 180 days. If a transaction is later deemed suspicious, the individuals involved may be identified retrospectively.

The measure is linked to the growing volume of cash withdrawals through questionable schemes. According to the Financial Monitoring Agency, 13.3 trillion tenge has been withdrawn through ATMs in recent years.

The enhanced controls are intended to reduce the use of money mule accounts and make it more difficult to cash out funds obtained through criminal activities.

At the same time, ordinary ATM transactions by themselves are not grounds for a tax audit.

Advertisements promising "easy money" are spreading on social media, offering income for every transfer and inviting people to use their bank accounts for financial transactions.

In reality, such offers are often attempts to recruit money mules — people whose bank accounts are used to conduct illegal transactions on behalf of others.

Participation in such schemes may result in criminal liability.

On social media, users are being offered an "easy way to earn money" — selling an Alatau City bank card for 60,000 tenge.

In private messages, scammers encourage people to hand over their cards, claiming they will be used for supposedly "legal P2P transactions" and promising payments for their use.

In reality, they are trying to recruit money mules — individuals who provide their bank cards to third parties for financial transactions.

Such actions may result in criminal liability, including up to seven years of imprisonment.

Professional money mules who provide services to scammers in exchange for financial rewards already operate in Kazakhstan. This was stated by Yuriy Lee, head of the Stop-piramida.kz project, in an interview with BES.media.

Scammers intimidate money mules and extort money by posing as law enforcement officers.

What should you do if you find yourself in this situation?

What should you do if you become a money mule, and who can be prosecuted under the law on money muling?

Starting from September 16, Kazakhstan will introduce criminal liability for the first time for money mules — individuals who transfer or sell their bank cards for laundering stolen funds. From August 31, the import and use of SIM boxes will also be prohibited, except for licensed telecommunications operators. These measures are part of the law adopted on June 30, 2025, aimed at strengthening the protection of consumers of financial services and combating phone and online fraud.

Law enforcement agencies are already reporting results. In Aktobe, a 26-year-old man was detained on suspicion of defrauding elderly people. In Bishkek, a joint operation involving Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia dismantled a cybercrime channel, seizing a 32-slot SIM box, dozens of SIM cards and equipment used to spoof calls.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs emphasizes that the new legislation targets key tools used by fraudsters, including money mules and SIM boxes. The era of impunity for accomplices is coming to an end.

How to avoid becoming a money mule:
• Never hand over your bank card or banking details to third parties.
• Do not agree to “easy jobs” involving money transfers or cash withdrawals.

⚠️ Stop Piramida warns: even if you did not realize you were helping scammers, such actions may still result in criminal liability.

A bank may temporarily freeze a transaction or restrict card spending if its internal monitoring systems detect potential risks. This can happen due to suspected fraud, anti-fraud alerts, unusual account activity, repeated incorrect PIN entries or outstanding debt obligations.

Such a restriction is not an accusation — it is a precautionary measure intended to protect both the customer and the bank.

If a transaction has been blocked, the customer should contact the bank, clarify the reason and confirm the legitimacy of the operation. The bank must explain the grounds for the restriction.

If, after contacting the bank, the decision appears unjustified, a complaint may be submitted to the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM).

It is also important to remember that participation in money mule schemes or transferring funds on behalf of unknown third parties may lead to criminal liability.

Scammers post advertisements for simple remote jobs, promising high income, flexible schedules and payments for making transfers through a personal bank card. In reality, victims are used as money mules — their accounts are used to move funds obtained through fraud.

In one such case, a woman responded to a vacancy for a "cashier", agreed to receive money on her bank card and forward it to other accounts. A few days later, the bank informed her that fraudulent funds had been deposited into her account, and the police identified her as a money mule involved in the scheme.

Such "side jobs" can result in frozen bank accounts, investigations and even criminal liability.

Criminal liability is being introduced for transferring a bank card, bank account or online banking access to third parties in exchange for payment.

The new offense targets money mules — individuals used by scammers to receive and transfer stolen funds.

Money mules may face the blocking of all bank accounts, inclusion in a registry of suspicious persons, difficulties obtaining loans, credit products and new bank cards, as well as imprisonment for up to seven years.

These measures apply not only to citizens of Kazakhstan but also to foreign nationals involved in such schemes.