Scams

Avoiding and Reporting a Scam

Protect Yourself from Investment Scams
Investment scams are becoming more sophisticated, often displaying polished websites, convincing testimonials, and persuasive individuals who appear knowledgeable and credible. It can be difficult to tell the difference between a genuine opportunity and a scam.

If something sounds too good to be true — it probably is.

How to Stay Safe

1. Be Cautious of Unsolicited Offers
   If you’re approached unexpectedly with an investment opportunity — whether by phone, email, social media, or in person — proceed with extreme caution. Unsolicited offers are often high-risk or fraudulent.
2. Always Check Authorisation
   Before engaging with any financial firm, verify that it is authorised by your country’s financial regulator. Dealing with authorised firms significantly reduces the risk of falling victim to a scam.
3. Know the Red Flags
   Watch out for:

• • Promises of high or guaranteed returns
  • Pressure to invest quickly
  • Lack of clear documentation or transparency
  • Failure to provide details of financial license or supervising authority

Scams involving Digital Assets

In Kazakhstan trading cryptocurrencies is allowed only at digital assets exchanges having an AFSA licence.

The list of licensed exchanges can be found in AFSA’s public register at the following links:

Digital assets exchanges in the regulatory sandbox FinTech Lab.

Digital assets exchanges operating in the full regulatory regime.

To support innovation while ensuring investor protection, AFSA established the FinTech Lab — a dedicated regulatory sandbox for firms offering financial services involving technological innovation, cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.

The FinTech Lab enables these providers to test their products and technologies in a controlled environment before launching them on a broader market. While participants must meet strict regulatory requirements, it’s important to note that the high volatility of digital assets presents significant risks to investors.

We encourage individuals to exercise caution and fully understand the risks before engaging in crypto-related financial services.

Dealing Safely with Digital Assets Services Providers

AFSA does not oversee transactions involving the buying, selling, or transferring of digital assets through providers that are not authorised by us. This also applies to the operation of cryptocurrency exchanges and any other regulated activities involving digital assets.

To protect yourself, always check whether a provider is authorised before engaging in any financial transaction involving digital assets.

Key Risks for Investors

• Loss of capital due to market volatility/force majeure events
• Lack of understanding of the nature of the investment product
• Lack of complete information about the product in the public domain
• Fraud schemes and scam projects
• Cyber threats and personal data breaches

Behavioral pitfalls for investors:

Behavioral traps: following advice from relatives or acquaintances who “know better”

Irrational behavior: belief in high yet guaranteed returns, overestimation of one’s market knowledge, and decision-making driven by fear.

Common financial fraud schemes:

Ponzi scheme is a type of financial fraud in which returns are paid to earlier investors using the capital from newer investors, rather than from actual profit earned by the operation of a legitimate business.

Pump & Dump is a scam where people artificially raise the price of a cheap stock or cryptocurrency by spreading false or misleading information. Once the price goes up, they sell their shares at a profit. After that, the price crashes, and other investors lose money.

Fraudulent issuer disclosures are false, misleading, or incomplete statements made by a company (the “issuer”) in the reports, filings, or announcements it is required to provide to investors, regulators, or the public. These disclosures are supposed to give an accurate picture of the issuer’s financial health, risks, and operations. When falsified, they can mislead investors and distort the market.

Fake investment platforms/fake licences are common financial scams designed to trick people into thinking they are dealing with legitimate, regulated companies.

Scams via messaging apps and social media are fraudulent schemes where criminals use platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok to trick people into sending money, sharing personal data, or investing in fake opportunities.

Hacking and theft of crypto wallets is unauthorised access to digital wallets where cryptocurrencies are stored, with the goal of stealing the funds.

Unauthorized investment advice [add info about finfluencers and licensed advisors]

Report a Scam or Unauthorised Firm

If you believe you have been approached by an unauthorised firm or individual conducting activities regulated by AFSA — often through cold calls — please report it using the form.

All firms and individuals offering financial services in the AIFC must be authorised or registered by AFSA. You should only deal with authorised or registered firms. Always check the AIFC Public Registers to confirm a firm’s status.

Provide as much information as possible about the unauthorised firm or individual who contacted you. If you have been approached by more than one, please complete a separate form for each.

If you think you may have lost money to fraud, please submit a report through our online form.

When completing your report, describe the unauthorised firm or individual and explain why you are reporting them. On the next page, you will be asked to provide your personal details.