War is not a hindrance to robbery: how in Transcarpathia scammers cash in on someone else’s grief

There have always been a lot of people who want to cash in on someone else’s grief, and even more so during the war – soulless swindlers come up with a variety of ways to rob Ukrainians. This is especially true in the western regions. After all, after the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine, people give almost the last of their money to leave the hot spots for calmer regions, for example, in Transcarpathia.

Therefore, the field for the work of swindlers is quite wide, as is the number of future victims.

“Today” will tell you what schemes criminals work on.

Rental of property

The most pressing issue for Ukrainian immigrants. In any case, you need to live somewhere for a certain period. However, it is important not to meet scammers on your way. According to the police of the Transcarpathian region, since the beginning of hostilities, Transcarpathia has been receiving a large number of internally displaced persons. Accordingly, there was an acute problem of accommodating people and, in turn, those who wanted to cash in on this.

The scheme of attackers is as follows: they publish ads on websites or social networks about the availability of housing, and then they wait for calls from potential customers. IN conversation emphasize that housing is in demand and there are many willing tenants (and this is true).

The next step is to lure out an advance or full prepayment. If you sent funds to a scammer, then do not expect that he will pick up the phone from you or answer SMS.

In order not to get into trouble, you should use the following tips:

• Do not send an advance or any other payment. Insist on paying the rent offline and signing the contract.
• When signing the contract, check the documents of the owner: a passport and a document of ownership (purchase agreement, will, etc.) or a commission and a copy of a document of ownership.
• Be sure to sign the lease and take a photo of the meter readings.

In the event that you have nevertheless suffered from fraudulent activities, you should report it to line 102 or contact the nearest police station.

Fake help

At a time when the president Vladimir Zelensky announced the payment of 1000 UAH for vaccination, SMS messages of similar content became more active.

Fraudulent scheme / Photo: screenshot

Then Ukrainians began to receive messages that, by clicking on the link, you can allegedly receive an allowance in the amount of 7,000 hryvnias, or, by calling, you can receive 370,000 hryvnias of assistance.

The same scheme can work after the announcement by the president of assistance to victims of the war. Remember that you can only receive this payment in the amount of UAH 6.5 thousand using the “Diya” application to your bank card.

This is relevant not only for Transcarpathia, but for all Ukrainians in general.

Fake benefactors

During the war, the number of people in need of help increases many times over. We are talking about both ordinary Ukrainians who suffered from the war, and about the army or volunteers. In proportion to this, the number of volunteers is growing, supporting such people with all their might, collecting, as they say, from the world one by one. Along with these, pseudo-volunteers lurked, capable only of deceiving and robbing.

The Mukachevo City Council warns about such schemes of fake philanthropists and recommends:

• not to transfer or transfer funds to personal card and bank accounts of unidentified persons, even if they appear to be volunteers or representatives of charitable organizations;
• transfer all funds exclusively to the bank accounts of the relevant charitable and voluntary organizations through payment systems or through the bank’s cash desk;
• require the recipient to report on the use of funds paid;
• inform law enforcement agencies about persons collecting money in cash without formalizing primary documents, misappropriating the funds received or using them for other purposes.

Looting on the border

Every day, hundreds of men, contrary to the current martial law, cross the border with the EU countries for a lot of money. According to the ex-people’s deputy, deputy of the Mukachevo City Council Viktor Baloga, in Transcarpathia this shadow business has already reached an industrial scale.

They usually trade in Telegram chats and demand 2,000 euros for crossing the border. Firstly, this is a violation of Ukrainian legislation in wartime conditions, and secondly, there is a big risk that this money will be taken from you and also brought to justice for a bribe.

How Ukrainians are robbed by invaders

In Ukrainian cities, with the advent of the invaders, any food, mattresses and poultry disappear, which they barbarously slaughter in broad daylight. So, Russian soldiers got burned in Skadovsk (Kherson region) stealing laptops and computers from local authorities, and on top of that, they robbed the house of an SBU officer.

On March 6, Russian invaders robbed the police station in the city of Izyum, Kharkiv region. They broke the doors to all office rooms, safes and turned everything upside down. The invaders stole stationery, heaters, hard drives from computers.

Previously, we wrote that the cost of a fake Ukrainian passport has increased in Russia, and reported how much a fake costs.

We also reported on the schemes of scammers who operate in chats.