Phone scams

A group of IT scammers who defrauded more than 70,000 pensioners has been arrested in Uzbekistan.

The scammers lured victims into handing over money under the pretext of compensation for allegedly substandard medications, with the total losses amounting to millions of rubles.

Kazakhstan is preparing new rules for obtaining SIM cards: activation will be available only via biometric authentication (facial scan) and will be limited to 10 numbers per person. Find out how this will work in this post.

Kazakhstan has strengthened security measures for services using the 1414 SMS gateway.

Previously, scammers could use a person’s phone number to obtain a one-time code and create the illusion of an “official request.”

Now, access to such systems is only possible through secure methods—Face ID, digital signatures, and eGov QR.

Services that have not implemented the new requirements have been disconnected from the 1414 SMS gateway.

Austrian researchers have discovered a vulnerability in WhatsApp that allows for the mass verification of phone numbers and the collection of user data.

The number-generation method allowed researchers to scan up to 70,000 numbers per second and collect information on 3.5 billion accounts, including phone numbers, profile photos, statuses, activity, device type, and connected devices.

In China, a court has handed down death sentences to the organizers of a network of scam call centers and illegal online gambling operations.

We are talking about dozens of complexes, brutal violence within these centers, and thousands of lives ruined by this industry.

According to UN estimates, hundreds of thousands of people in Southeast Asia were forced to work in such schemes. The damage exceeded $4 billion.

A fraudulent call center run by Kazakh citizens has been shut down in Bishkek.

A fake meeting. A fake “CFO.”

A loss of $25 million.

Technology is advancing—and so are scammers’ schemes.

An online fraud scheme involving foreign nationals has been uncovered in Almaty.

As part of the project “Prevention of Modern Forms of Online Fraud,” the Almaty City Prosecutor’s Office continues to actively work to identify and combat criminal schemes related to cybercrime.

According to the agency, on August 19, 2025, under the coordination of the Almaty City Prosecutor’s Office, in conjunction with Kazakhtelecom JSC, and with operational support from the National Security Committee and the Almaty City Police Department, two citizens of Kazakhstan were detained.

The investigation established that the detainees acted in collusion with foreign accomplices, providing them with legal support in organizing internet fraud.

Under this scheme, up to 2,000 calls were made daily to Kazakhstani citizens with the aim of extorting money.

Investigative actions are currently ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the criminal activity.

“If you notice any suspicious activity, you must immediately contact law enforcement agencies,” the Almaty City Prosecutor’s Office stated in its announcement.

Reminder: To avoid falling victim to scammers, you should:

• Verify information only through official sources;
• Never share codes from SMS or push notifications;
• Use strong passwords and change them regularly;
• enable two-factor authentication in all apps;
• do not click on suspicious links or install apps from them;
• teach children and elderly relatives about digital safety rules;
• immediately contact your bank and the police if you receive suspicious calls or notice suspicious activity.

In South Korea, telephone fraud has reached the scale of a national threat: the losses have already exceeded $680 million.

The police and the CHeil agency have taken an unusual approach—they launched the “Voice Wanted” campaign, in which the criminals’ voices were turned into “audio fingerprints” for investigative purposes.

Interactive posters featuring actual recordings of scammers were placed on the streets so that citizens could recognize manipulative tactics and assist in investigations.

This is an example of how technology, creativity, and public participation can become part of the fight against modern scams.