From $2,500 for a Body: How Scammers Profit from the Families of Fallen Soldiers
09 March 2026 14:16Brave fighters, devoted volunteers, battlefield heroism and daily acts of courage — war forges heroes, but it also relentlessly breeds monsters. War has its own criminal underbelly: there, a wounded soldier is quoted a price for disability, “office workers” from call centres hack the bank cards of the relatives of the fallen, profiteer from Ministry of Defence procurements, and siphon off humanitarian aid.
Within this hierarchy of vileness there are many levels. There are those who extort money by promising fake information about prisoners of war. There are “witches” who sell bulletproof amulets for all the money in the world. And finally there are those who have reached the absolute bottom. Vultures for whom the death of a soldier is not a tragedy but a highly profitable scam.
From $2,500: a price list on human grief
The profile “military search” promises the “evacuation of bodies of the fallen from the combat zone” or the “search for those missing in action”. The image: a soldier against the backdrop of ruins. Smoke, a grey sky. The text in red, because the goal is maximum emotional pressure:
“Winter. Minus 15. Snow covers the field. And there lies our boy. He has been there for months…”
They cynically strike at the most painful place.
“Removal of bodies. Any direction. Any territory. Up to 35 days. From $2,500.”
These inhuman people promise the impossible: to retrieve a body from any direction and any territory. However, anyone who has any connection to the front line knows that private individuals (companies or firms) do not retrieve bodies from the battlefield, even for money. It is physically impossible without coordination with headquarters, intelligence services and sappers. Returning bodies from the combat zone is not a service with a tariff — it is a complex official procedure involving exchanges, often years of waiting, and DNA examinations.
But for relatives who cannot bury a loved one for months, when official channels remain silent and only hope concentrates their thoughts into a single question — “Where is my son?” — these arguments fade into the background. People are ready to cling to any straw.
Under each such video on the profile there are hundreds of comments. Outraged and angry emojis, “a business on blood”, “you have hit rock bottom”. Many users actively thank them for their “difficult work”. An even larger number ask whether the body can be brought back from a specific settlement currently under occupation or in the “grey zone”. They ask directly: “Can you retrieve someone from near Avdiivka?”, “Is it possible to take someone from the Vovchansk direction?”, “Write to me in private.”
We tried to contact those who had asked about their fallen relatives. We asked whether they had actually been helped and whether the body had been delivered. No one responded to us.
Operation “Brother”: testing the depth of cynicism
We decided to go further and invented a story about a missing brother. We wrote to the WhatsApp number provided, pretending we were ready to pay any money, if only we could bring our loved one home.
What happened during our correspondence goes beyond the limits of human understanding.
$450 for hope
The response to the message was immediate. No sympathy, no clarifying questions — only a dry price list.
The scammers do not promise to retrieve the body immediately. First, they sell “information”. The price is $450 (about 20,000 hryvnias). For this money they promise to provide “preliminary data” within 24 hours and “evidence” within five days.
“Yes, that is for the information,” they reply briefly, confirming that these 20,000 hryvnias are paid simply for a text message in a messenger.
When asked the entirely logical question — “How will we know that you have brought back our soldier?” — the inhuman scammers deliver a masterpiece of manipulation. They claim that they conduct their own DNA examination in some “independent organisation”.
This is a direct lie. In Ukraine, DNA examinations of fallen servicemen are conducted exclusively by state institutions according to legally established procedures. No private “office” has access to the database of the deceased and cannot legally carry out such comparisons.
When the conversation turns to guarantees, the cynicism reaches its peak. The scammers openly state: “We provide no guarantees.” Yet they immediately add: “If you are not satisfied with the quality of the information — we will return the money.” At the same time, they assure that this has never happened because “the information will satisfy you”.
For payment they use the standard set: either bank cards belonging to so-called “drops” (money mules) or cryptocurrency wallets (Tron TRC20 network). This is done so that the money cannot be traced or returned.
Captain “Edelweiss”: why miracles do not happen
Former captain of the 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade, commander of a fire support company, Oleksandr Subotenko (call sign “Edelweiss”), explains that retrieving a body from the “zero line” or from occupied territory through private intermediaries in exchange for money is pure fantasy. This is the work of special units that often lasts for months and depends exclusively on official exchanges, not on the thickness of your wallet.
“You understand that this is all a scam, right? I encountered such stories during my service and heard them from relatives not only about this issue. There are many methods of deceiving our people regarding the dead or the missing. Obviously people are waiting for information, there is none, and then such ‘specialists’ appear: ‘send the money and we will find out about your brother, son, or husband’ — of course people often believe them.”
According to the captain, the scheme operates like a typical criminal call centre: a laptop and psychological pressure on those who have lost hope.
“Right now infantry units cannot even reach some positions, drones sometimes cannot fly that far — so what are we even talking about? If the territory has been captured by the enemy, how can you retrieve the body? You cannot. I know that bodies remain there… and when someone tries to approach and retrieve them, they start shelling the living. The enemy does not allow anyone to come close.”
When asked what the families should do in such a situation, Oleksandr answers directly: miracles do not happen — there is only the official path.
“Wait. There are body exchanges. We now see people being buried who died two years ago. These scammers do nothing. They simply provide some information that may resemble the truth and deceive people. It may even be Russians. They also have call centres.”
The Cyber Police Verdict: markers that indicate scammers
Analysing our correspondence with the scammers, specialists from the Cyber Police Department pointed out key details that should alert anyone at the stage of viewing the very first video on TikTok. These people operate according to a clear script where every word is a trap.
Anonymity and emotional manipulation
The first thing law enforcement points out is the complete absence of identification. The advertisements contain no personalised information (including logos) about the individuals or organisation supposedly involved in retrieving bodies. The text beneath the image appeals to emotions but contains no factual data regarding the removal of bodies. The wording is designed solely to switch off critical thinking in relatives and provoke an urgent impulse to “do at least something”.
They also noted incorrect punctuation.
Technical means of covering tracks
Communication in messengers is immediately configured so that evidence disappears after some time. The use of timers for deleting messages (after 24 hours or seven days) is a typical sign that you are speaking with a criminal. Cyber Police also note the language issue: such “services” are often offered in Russian, which in the context of promises to retrieve the body of a Ukrainian soldier looks suspicious.
Statements about “bringing the matter to its logical conclusion” are not supported by any reports.
Selling “informational air”
The scammers have introduced a multi-stage payment system. First they offer to “start working” on searching for information. The price for such a text message in a messenger is from $450. No guarantees are provided at the same time. Phrases such as “if you are not satisfied with the quality of the information we will return the money” are a classic manipulation, because it is impossible to verify the quality of such “information”, and there is no mechanism for returning money from a cryptocurrency wallet or a drop card.
The myth of independent examination
In Ukraine the identification of fallen servicemen is conducted exclusively by state institutions within criminal proceedings. No private company has access to the DNA database of relatives and cannot legally perform such comparisons. This is a promise that cannot be technically fulfilled.
Financial dead ends
What should raise suspicion: the requirement to make a payment without any guarantees or information about the interlocutor; promises of a 100 per cent guarantee of retrieving a body without clarification of circumstances or the area of combat operations.
Official recommendations
The Cyber Police note that together with the Ombudsman’s Office they have created a special brochure: “What Fraud Can Look Like and How to Counter It”. The main advice from law enforcement is clear: as soon as someone begins demanding money for information about a prisoner or for the “unofficial” retrieval of a body, you are dealing with scammers. You must immediately stop communication and contact official coordination bodies.
In reality, this investigation is not about criminals on TikTok but about human cynicism that knows no limits. The most frightening part of this scheme is not even the lost money. The most frightening moment is when a mother, wife, or sister, driven to despair by grief and the silence of official reports, borrows money for the last time, sells property, or collects every hryvnia from acquaintances. She sends that money while holding her breath and… is left with nothing again. No response in the messenger, no explanations, and most importantly — without her loved one.
The scammers kill hope for the second time. They force families to go through the hell of uncertainty once more, but now with the realisation that they have been betrayed by their own people.
If this material stops even one family from taking a fatal step, if even one person in despair does not press the “transfer” button to an unknown “rescuer” in direct messages — then we have done something truly important.
