Police have apprehended scammers who were swindling money under the pretext of government payments

Operatives from the Criminal Investigation Department, together with investigators, uncovered a criminal group that had been defrauding residents of various regions of Ukraine. The perpetrators called citizens, posed as employees of various government agencies, and convinced people that they had purchased substandard medications and were eligible for compensation from the government.

To receive the allegedly owed funds, the victims were persuaded to first pay a court fee and later a tax or insurance premium. As a result, the organizers of the scheme defrauded citizens out of millions of hryvnias. Law enforcement officials have identified dozens of victims.

The scammers used specialized terminology and posed as employees of various government agencies—including the court enforcement service, the treasury service, the tax service, the insurance fund, and the National Bank of Ukraine. During conversations, they used psychological manipulation to convince people of the truth of their fabricated story.

In one instance, to make the story more convincing, several people called the victim at once. Each of them claimed to be an employee of a different government agency, but all were acting as part of the same cover story.

To maintain secrecy, the group members constantly changed their rented offices, registering them under the names of front people. They also used IP telephony. Law enforcement officials have identified dozens of people who fell victim to the group’s activities. Four suspects have already been notified of the charges against them.

The police urge citizens not to transfer money in response to demands made over the phone and to verify information independently through the official channels of the relevant government agencies. If the person on the other end of the line demands payment to receive an alleged government benefit, you should end the call and verify the information provided.

This was reported by Andriy Nebitov, Deputy Head of the National Police of Ukraine.

In the Khmelnytskyi region, a woman embezzled nearly 8,000 euros from her own daughter.

Fake electricity bills: how to avoid falling for scammers’ tricks.

Scammers intimidated a 13-year-old daughter of a military officer and swindled $54,000 from her.

As a reminder, in Zaporizhzhia, a pre-trial investigation was completed into an organized group whose members posed as employees of Kazakhstani banks’ security services and tricked citizens into revealing their bank card details, after which they stole their funds.

In Volyn, the State Bureau of Economic Security (SBES) uncovered tax evasion totaling nearly ₴28 million in the flower business.