Fraudsters cheat UAH 3 million from mother of fallen soldier through fake bank
Kyiv • UNN
Law enforcers exposed a group of fraudsters posing as bank employees who defrauded the mother of a deceased military officer of UAH 3 million. The criminals used SIP telephony to imitate calls from the bank and conducted about 500 episodes of fraud.
Fraudsters cheated a 58-year-old resident of Odesa region out of UAH 3 million she received as state compensation for her deceased military son. This was reported by the Prosecutor General's Office, UNN reports.
Under the procedural supervision of the Odesa Region Prosecutor's Office, three members of a criminal group who defrauded citizens by posing as bank employees were exposed and served a notice of suspicion. They are charged with fraud committed through illegal transactions with the use of electronic computers and legalization of the proceeds of crime (Part 5 Article 190, Part 2 Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine),
Details
It is noted that the defendants received personal data of citizens and called them, introducing themselves as employees of the bank's security service.
They convinced victims that their online banking accounts had been hacked and offered to temporarily transfer funds to "safe accounts." During these calls, the fraudsters provided instructions that allowed them to gain full access to the victims' accounts. Subsequently, the money was transferred to drop accounts and cashed out.
Law enforcement officials note that to conceal their activities, the suspects used SIP telephony, which allowed them to spoof numbers and imitate calls from official bank lines. In this way, the victims were under the impression that they were receiving a call from the bank's security service.
One of the victims of this scheme was a 58-year-old resident of Odesa region who received UAH 3 million in state compensation for her deceased son, a military officer. The fraudsters convinced her that the money was in danger and forced her to transfer it to accounts under their control,
The suspects were detained in Poltava region and are in custody.
Investigative actions are ongoing to identify other participants in the scheme, all victims and damages. It is known that the defendants managed to commit about 500 episodes of fraud across the country.
