Law enforcement officers exposed a criminal group that cheated on citizens, introducing themselves to bank employees. Using modern telephony technologies, scammers have successfully lured money from trusting casualties. One of the victims, a 58-year-old resident of Odessa region, has lost 3 million hryvnias-compensation for the dead son-military received from the state.
The attackers used SIP telephony to mask the numbers and give the impression that calls came from the bank. Having presented the security service staff, they reported the victims of allegedly broken accounts and offered to "protect" the funds, transferring them to "safe accounts". After receiving the personal data of the victims, the fraudsters were accessed to their online banking and transferred money to the accounts of false persons ("drops"), and then shot them in cash.
One of the victims was a woman from Odessa, who lost her son in the war zone. Having received compensation from the state in the amount of UAH 3 million, she got on a hook of fraudsters, who convinced her that the money was in danger, and forced them to transfer them to their controlled accounts.
Law enforcement officers detained three participants of the criminal group in Poltava region. They are suspected of fraud and legalization of proceeds from crime. The suspects are in custody and the investigation is ongoing. It is established that they managed to implement about 500 similar schemes throughout Ukraine.
The operation of the fraudulent network was conducted by prosecutors of the Odessa Regional Prosecutor's Office together with investigators of the SUNP in the Odessa region and employees of the Criminal Investigation Department. Work is currently underway to install other participants in the scam and victims.
