The scammers promised people protection from fraudsters and swindled nearly ₴1 million
Law enforcement officials have exposed three individuals who organized a fraudulent scheme to extort money under the pretext of protecting victims from cybercriminals. The total amount of losses amounts to nearly 1 million hryvnias.
This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General.
According to the investigation, the organizer of the scheme is a resident of Kryvyi Rih, who recruited two accomplices to participate in the criminal activity. The perpetrators posed as employees of leading Ukrainian mobile operators and convinced citizens of the need to “protect” their phone numbers from scammers.
Specifically, they offered to reissue a virtual SIM card and asked for the password to the operator’s mobile app.
After gaining access to the numbers, the suspects logged into the victims’ online banking accounts and transferred funds to accounts under their control.
In this way, they managed to defraud at least five citizens of approximately 1 million hryvnias.
Under the procedural guidance of prosecutors from the Office of the Prosecutor General, the suspects were notified of charges under Part 5 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine—theft of another person’s property on an especially large scale through deception, committed by an organized group.
If found guilty, they face up to 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.
At the same time, in accordance with Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
