Fraudsters cheat soldiers released from captivity of UAH 1 million: video and details of the scheme

In Odesa region, police detained two unemployed brothers who were swindling former prisoners of war out of their personal data and cheating them out of money. This was reported to by in the National Police.

The detainees called the victims, posing as employees of banking institutions or law enforcement agencies.

According to investigators, the men convinced the victims that their accounts were supposed to receive payments, but due to "technical problems" the funds were not credited. To "resolve the issue," the detainees lured one-time codes from SMS, which were used to log in to online banking and gain full control over the accounts.

The organizer of the scheme had already been sentenced to four years' imprisonment on probation for similar crimes in December 2024. However, while on probation, he continued to engage in the scheme.

There was a documented case when a soldier was even convinced to send a bank card by mail, and later used it in jewelry stores, electronics retailers, grocery and alcohol supermarkets.

At least 10 Ukrainian defenders suffered from the actions of the detainees. The amount of damage is about UAH 1 million.

Law enforcement officers detained the men at home and seized their cell phones, bank cards, about UAH 200,000 in various currencies, and gold jewelry purchased at the expense of the military. The men face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.

Prosecution requests detention without bail for detainees.

• on April 29, police detained a 38-year-old Kyiv resident who promised to employ a man in the Main Intelligence Directorate for $5000. He has already been served with a notice of suspicion, reported in the National Police.