The SSU has blocked an illegal scheme of swindling money from Ukrainian citizens. In a special operation, the SSU managed to trace the whole chain of calls from ‘call centers of domestic banks’, which were actually made by prisoners of jails in the temporarily occupied territories. While the scheme was operational, the fraudsters defrauded hundreds of Ukrainian citizens of millions of hryvnias.

The investigation established that one of the participants of the scam is a resident of Donetsk region. He conspired with the leaders of the so-called DNR, who created an extensive network of pseudo call centers.

The employees of these bogus call centers were inmates in prisons of the so-called DNR. They posed as employees of Ukrainian banks and coaxed confidential personal and bank data out of Ukrainian citizens, and subsequently withdrew money from their accounts.

The identified resident of Donetsk region coordinated conversion of stolen funds to cash and their transportation across the contact line. His couriers were residents of government-controlled territories, who also have Russian citizenships. They used an extensive network of fictitious persons as well as financial services.

The offenders handed over part of the stolen money to so-called ‘law enforcement officers’ in the occupied territories, who not just encouraged but also coordinated the activity of ‘call-centers’.

The SSU Cyber Department documented all the chains of the complex unlawful scheme. Based on this, the National Police investigators notified the targets of investigation of suspicion. The proceedings were opened under Article 190.3 (fraud) and 209.2 (money laundering) of the CCU.

During the searches, the investigators seized bank cards, mobile devices, records, computer equipment and other evidence confirming the unlawful activity. The investigation is ongoing.

The SSU Cyber Security ​​Department and the National Police investigators carried out the operation under the supervision of the Prosecutor General’s Office.