The State Committee for National Security (SCNS) of Kyrgyzstan has arrested 43 employees of an illegal call center in Bishkek, in a case of fraud against citizens, mostly elderly people. According to the agency, the organizers of the scheme are citizens of Kazakhstan.
Call-center operators used psychological pressure and manipulation methods to convince citizens of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan to buy biologically active supplements, household appliances and participate in fictitious lotteries. They also promised that transferring money to certain accounts would increase the chances of winning.
“The call center was not registered with the relevant tax authorities and did not have a lottery license. The operators used the Baribarda remote call system, with all servers and databases located in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The call center had the characteristics of an organized criminal scheme with cross-border reach. Most of the victims were elderly people,” the SCNS said.
During the searches, 78 laptops, 43 cell phones, and documents indicating the scale of criminal activity were seized, and 43 employees were detained and brought to the SCNS for questioning. Four minors are among those detained. An investigation is underway.
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