“Extend your EDS key”: Kazakhstanis warned of new scam scheme
Tengrinews.kz – Cyber scammers have begun targeting residents of North Kazakhstan Region using a new scam tactic, citing the press service of Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry.
People receive calls from individuals posing as employees of a Public Service Center or eGov, who say that their EDS key needs to be extended. They are then asked to press 1 on their phone to agree or 3 to refuse.
After that, they receive calls from people allegedly representing the same organizations. The callers claim that because of the button pressed, the person’s account was hacked and a loan was taken out in their name.
To protect themselves from it, the scammers suggest taking out a “mirror” loan and transferring the money to a “safe” account — which is actually controlled by the criminals.
In recent days, the criminals have made around 20 such calls — these are only the cases reported by citizens to 102. One crime using the new scheme has been registered: a 44-year-old resident of one of the region’s districts believed the fraudsters and lost four million tenge.
No other similar cases have been registered so far. Thanks to police awareness efforts, many residents are able to recognize such tricks.
Nevertheless, law enforcement officers strongly urge people to tell their loved ones about this threat, especially elderly relatives. It is important to know that employees of Public Service Centers and eGov do not have access to information classified as bank secrecy. Such calls are fraudulent.