Kazakhstan anti-fraud center blocks 4 billion tenge in bank accounts

Kazakhstan’s anti-fraud center, working with the police and the National Bank, has blocked 4 billion tenge across accounts used for transfers. The numbers matter for PSPs and banks because the case shows how fast coordinated screening, account freezes, and bank-side response can move stolen funds before they leave the system.

1. According to Jandos Suinbay, head of the Cybercrime Prevention Department at Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the anti-fraud center registered 212,000 incidents during the reporting period, with more than 76,000 initiated by internal affairs agencies.
2. As a result of the measures taken, 4 billion tenge was blocked in accounts used for transfers, 1.5 billion tenge was frozen in droppers’ accounts, and 617 million tenge was voluntarily returned to defrauded citizens.
3. Suinbay said the key task of cooperation between police and the anti-fraud center is to identify suspicious transfers quickly and prevent stolen money from being withdrawn. In practice, the speed of information exchange between police and banks directly affects whether funds can be preserved and returned to victims.
4. Alongside transaction blocking, the MIA and other government bodies have tightened requirements for issuing online loans and registering SIM cards.
5. Kazakhstan has also moved on cross-border cybercrime cooperation: last week, the head of state signed a law ratifying the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime, known as the Budapest Convention, which allows faster interaction and exchange of digital evidence with participating countries. A bill to ratify the UN Convention against Cybercrime is also being prepared for parliament.

The MIA also warned citizens not to share verification SMS codes, logins, or passwords for banking apps with third parties. It reminded the public that droppership — handing over bank cards and accounts to third parties for illegal transactions — is a criminal offense, and advised people to stop suspicious calls or transfers immediately and contact 102 or their bank’s hotline.