With the new school year approaching, scammers have intensified their efforts to target parents and students. Fraudsters are exploiting the back-to-school rush, offering uniforms, stationery, and electronics at suspiciously low prices, reports infohub.kz.
One common scheme involves creating fake online stores. These sites lure buyers with attractive deals, then redirect them to a fraudulent payment page. Credit card details and confirmation codes entered there immediately fall into the hands of criminals.
But school-related scams aren't limited to online shopping. Fraudsters may call parents or children, posing as school staff, homeroom teachers, or admissions committee representatives. Under various pretexts, they try to obtain SMS codes, trick victims into clicking dangerous links, or confirm personal data on third-party websites.
Sometimes the deception turns into a full-blown psychological performance. After the initial call, scammers continue the conversation, inventing new reasons to stay in touch. With children, criminals may intimidate them with potential trouble for their families, instilling guilt and fear. As a result, the child or adult starts complying with the fraudsters' demands without critically assessing the situation.
The scammers' main weapon is urgency. They deliberately create a sense that a decision must be made immediately, forbid consulting with loved ones, and threaten dire consequences for refusal.
Experts advise treating pressure, demands for urgent money transfers, SMS codes, or clicking unknown links as a serious reason to end the conversation and independently verify the information through official school or organization channels.
Additional protection comes from using unique passwords for different services, deleting unnecessary accounts, and limiting the amount of personal information shared on social media and messaging apps.
However, technology alone is not enough, experts note. Even the most advanced security systems cannot fully protect against social engineering. The best way to counter scammers is to combine technical safeguards with the habit of not rushing, double-checking information, and never sharing confidential data with strangers.