In JSC "State Technical Service", they have warned about new fraud schemes in which criminals operate under the guise of official organisations — from clinics and utility companies to delivery services.
According to the agency's press office, in this way criminals are trying to gain access to citizens' personal data and accounts in government applications.
In some cases, fraudsters call, posing as employees of real clinics and may even give exact addresses and names.
"They claim that from a certain date, appointments with doctors and calling an ambulance are supposedly done not by an Individual Identification Number, but by a medical declaration number. They then ask you to dictate the 'declaration number', which is actually a one-time code for logging into government applications such as DamuMed or eGov. After receiving an SMS, they ask you to dictate the six-digit code, thereby gaining access to the citizen's personal account", the statement said.
Furthermore, fraudsters pose as employees of "Astana Energosbyt", "Almaty Su" or other utility organisations.
"Under the pretext of participating in a 'state programme for replacing meters', they ask when the last replacement was, and supposedly open an application. They then send a code to the victim's phone and ask them to dictate it — once again trying to gain access to digital services", the agency reported.
At the same time, fraudsters, posing as employees of "Kazpost" or courier services, report a registered letter from the tax committee, the state revenue committee, the Public Service Centre or other departments.
"They clarify the address, send an SMS from numbers 1414 or 1412 and ask you to dictate the code or follow a link. This is an attempt to steal data or install malicious software", the service explained.
Specialists note that no state or utility organisation requests SMS codes or links from messengers over the phone.
The "State Technical Service" recommends:
- do not give confirmation codes from SMS to anyone — even if the caller claims to be an employee of a government body;
- do not disclose your Individual Identification Number or other personal data over the phone;
- do not follow links in SMS messages, especially if you are in a conversation with a 'representative' of an organisation;
- end the call and call the organisation back on the official number.