National Bank of Kazakhstan warns of a new telephone fraud scheme, where fraudster pose as delivery service employees.

Initially, citizens receive a call from someone claiming to represent a courier or postal service regarding a supposedly arrived parcel. To confirm delivery, the caller asks the individual to provide a code received via SMS.

In doing so, the fraudsters deliberately create a sense of urgency, preventing the person from carefully reading the content of the SMS message. For instance, they might claim that the courier is already waiting to hand over the shipment, that the recipient risks losing his place in the queue, or that if the call is disconnected, the delivery process will have to be started all over again.

Once the SMS code is obtained, the fraudsters move to the next stage of the scheme. The citizen receives a call from someone claiming to be an employee of the digital government (eGov). During the conversation, they report an alleged account breach and a potential leak or unauthorized copying of personal data.

To make the story more convincing, the fraudsters may claim that a "Stop-Credit" service has been activated to protect the citizen and that the situation is monitored by law enforcement agencies or the "National Bank's security service." The call may subsequently be transferred to another participant in the scheme. The ultimate goal of these actions is to gain access to money of the citizens.

A characteristic feature of such schemes is the use of psychological pressure. Fraudsters may demand that the call not be disconnected, that the situation not be disclosed to third parties, and that confidentiality of the conversation be maintained. 

In some cases, citizens are threatened with criminal liability for disclosing information or told that ending the call will cancel procedures supposedly intended to protect their funds and personal data. Such tactics aim to prevent individuals from seeking advice or assistance from family, their bank or law enforcement agencies.

The National Bank advises everyone to carefully check the sender of any SMS message and never share SMS codes with third parties. If you receive a suspicious call, you should immediately hang up and call the organization back using its official phone number.

Please note that employees of the National Bank do not make audio or video calls, do not service individual accounts, do not offer investment in mutual investment funds or other financial products, do not insure funds and do not process payments to individuals.

If you run into a fraudulent activity, we strongly recommend that you contact the law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

For consultation, please contact the National Bank Contact Center at 1477.

For more details mass media can contact:
8 (7172) 77–52–10
e-mail: press@nationalbank.kz 
www.nationalbank.kz