In Petropavlovsk, an officer of the Special Rapid Response Unit (SOBR) prevented three million tenge from being handed over to fraudsters, the website infohub.kz reports.
According to the press service of the police department of the North Kazakhstan Region, the incident occurred near ATMs in one of the city's shopping centers. Police Senior Lieutenant Yerkebulan Kurbaniyazov noticed an agitated man who was talking on the phone nonstop. In his hands was a green bag through which bundles of money were visible.
The officer showed his service ID and warned the man that he might be talking to fraudsters. However, the man did not want to listen to him. According to the department, scammers always instruct their victims: "If someone tries to stop you, do not believe them: they are the very criminals who want to take out loans in your name."
Only the SOBR officer's persistence helped convince the man and avoid the damage.
The 49-year-old resident of Petropavlovsk, who works as a locksmith, described the scheme used to deceive him. First, he received a phone call. A mechanical voice said that his electronic digital signature (EDS) was allegedly about to expire and that he needed to press the number 1 to extend it. Then came a call supposedly from the bank: "Why did you press the number? Now a loan is being taken out in your name." The man was told he needed to take out a "mirror" loan and deposit the money into a "safe account."
The transfer of three million tenge to the fraudsters was prevented literally at the last minute.