Kazakhstan Proposes ECO Network To Combat Online Fraud

(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 11. Kazakhstan has proposed creating a network of contact points among the central authorities of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member states to speed up the response to online fraud and financial crime, the Kazakh Prosecutor General's Office said.

The proposal was made during the seventh meeting of prosecutors general of ECO member states, held in Turkestan under the chairmanship of Kazakhstan's Prosecutor General Berik Assylov.

“Kazakhstan proposed moving from predominantly formalized procedures for international legal assistance to more operational cooperation,” the Prosecutor General's Office said.

The proposed network would operate under the ECO Secretariat and facilitate the rapid exchange of information on criminals, response to suspicious transactions and, where necessary, the formation of joint investigative and operational groups.

The meeting focused on practical measures to combat online fraud, digital and financial crime by combining resources, information and modern technologies. Prosecutors and representatives from Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Türkiye and Pakistan participated in the meeting, along with the ECO Secretary General and a representative of the Coordinating Council of Prosecutors General of CIS member states.

Kazakhstan also presented its multi-level system for protecting citizens against online fraud, including biometric identification for online loans, a cooling-off period, voluntary refusal to obtain loans, anti-fraud systems operated by telecom providers and the National Anti-Fraud Center.

These measures helped prevent the issuance of more than 700 fraudulent loans worth over $850,000, while more than 600 money mules were held accountable. Kazakh courts also upheld claims to recover unjust enrichment worth more than $12 million, according to the Prosecutor General's Office.

A Unified Analytical Platform for Monitoring Online Fraud operates at the Crime Threat Forecasting Center. It combines data from legal statistics, the banking sector, telecom operators, law enforcement and government agencies.

The use of artificial intelligence enables authorities to identify common digital and financial infrastructure used by criminals and predict new fraud schemes, the office said.

The proposed mechanisms received support from the participants. The sides agreed to continue exchanging experience in combating online fraud and financial crime, digital forensics, and the use of artificial intelligence and analytical technologies.

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