Last year, a record number of fraud convictions were handed down in Ukraine - about 3,100, which is the largest number in a single year. For comparison, in 2021, 2.3 thousand such verdicts were registered, UNN writes, citing data from the monitoring service Opendatabot.
Details
As of today, the court register of Ukraine has more than 42 thousand fraud convictions. Of these, a record number - 3.1 thousand - were handed down last year. Out of this number, more than 360 cases involved real estate fraud. Using the Babusya search engine, 42,787 verdicts were found. Compared to 2021, where 2,300 verdicts under Article 190 were found, last year showed a significant increase in the number of such cases, according to Opendatabot data.
Among the cases of fraud, a significant number of them are reported to be related to online real estate rentals. Fraudsters often use platforms like OLX for schemes offering to rent or sell real estate that does not actually exist. In particular, OLX is mentioned in 363 criminal cases as a tool of fraudsters.
In one case of fraud, the attacker reportedly used the OLX platform to post fictitious ads for an apartment that did not actually exist. He asked potential tenants for an advance payment as a "guarantee" for viewing the apartment and signing a contract. After receiving the money, the fraudster disappeared without fulfilling his obligations. The offender deceived at least 21 people, collecting a total of over UAH 19 thousand. He was sentenced to 5 years and 7 months in prison for this scam.
"In 2023, OLX Ukraine received more than 2 million complaints about suspicious ads. About 50% of the ads with such complaints were removed, and 40% of them were blocked as those that intend to harm the users of the service. It is worth noting that one ad can receive several complaints," said Viktor Nobius, Head of Business Intelligence at OLX Ukraine.
Recall
The Verkhovna Rada is planning to consider a draft law that would criminalize electronic and communication fraud, including the illegal use of personal data and banking information to seize property by electronic means.