Officially, about 8,000 Ukrainian soldiers are in Russian captivity. More than 70,000 people, including civilians, are considered missing. For their families, these are years of pain and uncertainty, as they try to find even a shred of information about the fate of their loved ones.
This is where scammers make money. They offer photos, videos, or even “speeding up” the exchange for money. The amounts demanded by scammers range from $500 to $7,000. For many families who have lost hope of getting official answers, such offers seem like their only chance.
In reality, most of them are well-planned scams. People receive false promises and lose their last savings. Some of the scammers managed to enrich themselves by millions of hryvnias. One such case is the story where a fraudster "earned" more than 4 million by playing on the desperation of families who were waiting for the return of their loved ones from captivity.
Experts emphasize: no one can guarantee a quick exchange or provide truthful data for money. The only reliable sources remain official structures - the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the Red Cross, and international organizations.
Profiting from someone else's misfortune is one of the most cynical forms of fraud. But as long as the war continues and families live in uncertainty, scammers will continue to try to exploit their desperation.
