In Karaganda, a 78-year-old pensioner fell victim to fraudsters who, posing as curse removers, stole her gold jewelry and 15 million tenge, reports infohub.kz.
The incident occurred on the street when three strangers approached the elderly woman and asked for directions to a dental clinic. During the conversation, one of them claimed that the pensioner was under an old curse placed by a close relative, and that lifting it was the only way to prevent the death of a loved one. The fraudsters convinced the woman to buy a "cleansing" needle, bring a raw egg, and then wrap her gold jewelry and money in newspaper. Promising complete deliverance from "evil," they handed her a sealed package and told her not to open it for 40 days.
The pensioner followed all instructions, but that very night she decided to check the package. Instead of gold and money, she found only plain paper. The total damage amounted to 15 million tenge.
Police identified the suspects based on the victim's description. They turned out to be residents of Pavlodar, Almaty, and the Zhetysu region. The women were detained in Temirtau, and the pensioner identified them at the police station. They are currently in a temporary detention facility, and the investigation is ongoing. Law enforcement is also checking their possible involvement in similar crimes.