Wanted a government payment but helped scammers: in the Mykolaiv region a woman was defrauded of nearly 60,000
Legitimate government payments are not processed through suspicious links
In the Pervomaiskyi district scammers again used a scheme with a fake “social assistance”. To police station No. 1 of the Pervomaiskyi district police department reported a 46-year-old resident of the Arbuzynka community, who said she lost 58 thousand hryvnias after following a suspicious link on social media.
According to the complainant, she saw a message about an alleged opportunity to receive a social payment, followed the provided address, entered personal details and account information, after which all funds disappeared from her card, – reported by the police of Mykolaiv Region.
Investigators have opened a criminal case under Part 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – “Fraud”.
Law enforcement officers are identifying the perpetrators and again urge citizens not to trust messages about “assistance” on social networks and messengers, especially if receiving it requires following unknown links and entering bank details. Similar schemes have been recorded more than once both in Mykolaiv Region and directly on the police’s pages, which warned: government institutions do not ask you to enter card details via third-party links.
The police emphasize that citizens must not disclose PIN codes, CVV, passwords, or SMS codes, and should check the website address if it concerns any payments or state assistance. An attempt to move the communication to messengers or an offer to “urgently” arrange a payment through a suspicious page – is one of the typical signs of fraud. If suspicious, people should immediately contact their bank or call 102.
Earlier we wrote:
- A link to aid from a partner country resulted for a Mykolaiv resident in a series of debits totaling 82 thousand hryvnias
- “Ukrenergo pays compensation”? No, scammers sent you a bill
- Scammers deceived residents of Mykolaiv Region out of over 600 thousand hryvnias
- In Mykolaiv Region women were cheated out of 45 thousand hryvnias under the pretext of a cyberattack and state assistance
- In Mykolaiv a woman lost 130 thousand hryvnias while applying for social assistance
