Police in Karaganda, alerted by a vigilant taxi driver, prevented a 16.3 million tenge fraud, according to infohub.kz.
On July 12, a 69-year-old Karaganda resident nearly lost all her savings due to a carefully planned scam. Fraudsters posing as bank security personnel convinced the pensioner that to participate in a 'special operation' to catch a criminal group, she needed to transfer 16.3 million tenge to Almaty.
The theft was averted thanks to the taxi driver's attentiveness. He noticed the passenger was extremely agitated and behaving unusually, and immediately called the police.
Police officers arrived quickly and prevented the scammers from taking the money. However, they were unable to apprehend the courier awaiting the funds in Almaty. The woman, under the scammers' influence, informed them about the police, allowing the criminals to escape.
A criminal case has been opened for fraud. The investigation is ongoing to determine the circumstances and identify all involved parties.