Phone scams
Calls impersonating government officials, telecom operators, financial institutions, utility services, and other organizations.
In Uzbekistan, authorities detained a group of IT fraudsters who allegedly deceived more than 70,000 pensioners.
The scammers extorted money under the pretext of compensation for supposedly ineffective medicines, causing losses amounting to millions of Russian rubles.
Kazakhstan is preparing new rules for obtaining SIM cards: activation will be available only after biometric verification (facial recognition), with a limit of up to 10 phone numbers per person.
How this system will work is explained in the post.
Security measures have been strengthened in Kazakhstan for services that use the 1414 SMS gateway.
Previously, scammers could use a person's phone number to trigger one-time verification codes and create the illusion of an "official request."
Access to these systems is now allowed only through secure authentication methods, including Face ID, digital signatures (EDS), and eGov QR.
Services that failed to implement the new requirements have been disconnected from the 1414 SMS gateway.
Researchers in Austria have identified a vulnerability in WhatsApp that made it possible to verify large numbers of phone numbers and collect user data on a massive scale.
Using an automated number-generation method, researchers were reportedly able to test up to 70,000 numbers per second and gather information linked to approximately 3.5 billion accounts, including phone numbers, profile photos, status messages, activity data, device types, and connected companion devices.
A Chinese court has sentenced the organizers of a network of scam call centers and illegal online gambling operations to death.
The case involves dozens of compounds, severe violence within these centers, and thousands of lives destroyed by this criminal industry.
According to United Nations estimates, hundreds of thousands of people in Southeast Asia have been forced to work in similar schemes.
The total damage caused by these operations has exceeded 4 billion U.S. dollars.
A 32-year-old Singaporean citizen was arrested in Malaysia as part of an investigation into an organised criminal group. According to police, the group allegedly impersonated government officials and persuaded victims to transfer money to so-called “safe accounts.” The investigation is ongoing, and some suspects remain wanted.
In Bishkek, authorities shut down a fraudulent call center allegedly operated by citizens of Kazakhstan.
A fake meeting. A counterfeit "chief financial officer."
Twenty-five million dollars lost.
As technology evolves, so do the methods used by fraudsters.
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.
