More than UAH 13.3 million “for an inspection”: pensioner defrauded by fake security officers

Scammers swindled more than 13.3 million hryvnias from a 71-year-old woman in the Kyiv region. Police detained a 20-year-old man from Mykolaiv region in connection with the case. The National Police of Ukraine reported the scheme. According to npu.gov.ua.

According to investigators, unknown individuals contacted the pensioner several times via Viber, posing as security service officers. They intimidated her by claiming that criminal proceedings had allegedly already been opened against her for cooperating with Russia.

The callers said she could avoid legal trouble by handing her savings to a special “courier” for supposed verification. According to police, the man from Mykolaiv region may have served in this role, going to the woman’s home and taking the money.

The detainee was notified that he is suspected of aiding and abetting fraud on an especially large scale. He faces up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property. Police are identifying other members of the scheme.

We previously reported:

• “You are funding the aggressor”: scammers terrorized a former senior official and took nearly 7 million from him
• Fake summonses, “interrogations,” and extortion: scammers are impersonating the Security Service of Ukraine on a massive scale
• Scammers posing as the Security Service of Ukraine swindled Kyiv pensioners out of nearly UAH 9 million
• “You’ll be jailed for medicines from Russia”: scammers frightened a Mykolaiv pensioner and swindled her out of all her savings
• Playing on fear: scammers in Mykolaiv region swindled 90,000 from a pensioner under the guise of an “income check”