The prosecutor's office of the Aktobe region has found that compared to last year, the number of fraud cases in the region has increased by 22%.
According to Ratel.kz, regional prosecutors have already registered 815 instances of fraud, 400 of which are online. The highest numbers are in Aktobe, as well as the Khobdinsky and Uilsky districts. The lowest numbers are in the Yrgyz, Temir, Alga, Baiganin and Martuk districts.
It has become known that the share of fraud in the overall crime picture last year was 29.1%, and since the beginning of this year it has already reached 35.3%. In turn, the detection rate for serious fraud this year was 66%, for less serious fraud 57%, and for medium-level fraud 10%. Only 15% of online fraud cases have been solved this year.
As the analysis by the regional prosecutor's office showed, the most common victims of fraudsters are those seeking easy money, the unemployed, people with financial problems, and trusting and financially illiterate individuals.
"Thus, fraudsters exploit existing issues with employment and the barriers erected in the sphere of obtaining state services, as well as the gullibility of the population. In turn, social issues are not being resolved by the akimat at an adequate level, and the shortage of jobs has greatly impacted the current situation," the report states.
The prosecutor's office noted "the ineffectiveness of measures taken by the police department and its subdivisions and their lack of interest in detecting and investigating fraud of medium and minor severity."
Among the cases of so-called 'contact fraud', promises to help obtain land plots, out-of-turn apartments, and withdraw funds from the pension fund most often prevail. Fraudsters also do not hesitate to profit from citizens' desire to register illegal vehicles in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
"The reason for the growth of such fraud, as noted in the analysis by the regional prosecutor's office, is the lack of proper educational work among the population by the regional akimat, including the employment department, regarding the procedure for acquiring and registering land plots, out-of-turn apartments, pension savings, etc.," the report says.
Furthermore, prosecutors criticised the work of local executive bodies.
"Due to insufficient targeted work by local executive bodies with people in need of work, fraud committed under the pretext of providing employment services has doubled. As follows from the analysis, there is no work by the police department to prevent fraud, including at the early stages of preparation or attempt of a crime as part of operational search activities," noted the prosecutor's office.
Also, the regional prosecutor's office stated that Aktobe police are not taking measures to identify illegal advertising of investment companies and shares of large organisations, as well as fake advertisements for the provision of services.