Kazakhstanis hoping to change their hairstyle with a "free stylist" risk losing not only their looks but also their money, after the Prosecutor General's Office warned of a new scam, infohub.kz reports.
In a Telegram channel, the supervisory agency reported the spread of malicious software disguised as free AI services for choosing haircuts, hairstyles and makeup, and for creating a personalized look from a photograph.
"To gain access to the promised features, potential victims are asked to follow a posted link and download a special application. In reality, instead of the advertised AI service, a malicious program is installed on the device that allows attackers to gain remote access to the smartphone," the statement said.
Kazakhstanis were warned that once such software is installed, scammers may be able to control certain device functions, view personal information, access confidential data, and use access to banking apps and other financial services to steal money.
To protect against such scams, people are advised to download apps only from official stores; not to follow app download links posted in dubious advertising, messages or unknown internet resources; to check the app's name, developer, official website, user reviews and publication date before installing; to carefully review the permissions an app requests; and not to install apps that offer to disable built-in security tools.
In addition, people should not enter bank card details, passwords, or confirmation codes from SMS and push notifications into unknown services, and should not grant unfamiliar apps access to banking services, messages, notifications or other functions.