In the West Kazakhstan Region, three individuals have been convicted of fraud committed through the WhatsApp messenger. The scammers engaged in correspondence with Kazakhstani citizens, posing as their relatives, and under various pretexts extorted money transfers. A so-called dropper was actively involved in the scheme, through whose bank account about 5 million tenge was withdrawn. During the pre-trial investigation, the involvement of the accused in 15 episodes of online fraud was established, reports the website infohub.kz.
As reported by the prosecutor's office of the West Kazakhstan Region, the victims include residents of the West Kazakhstan, Aktobe, Almaty, Zhambyl, Kyzylorda, Turkestan regions, as well as the Zhetysu region and the city of Almaty. The court found all three fraudsters guilty. In June of this year, two of them were sentenced to imprisonment for terms ranging from 3 to 4 years and 1 month, and one to restriction of liberty for 3 years. In addition, the court fully satisfied the civil claims of the victims. The verdict has not yet entered into legal force.