Police warn of new cases of fraud: how to protect yourself and not get caught by intruders
8 residents of Sumy region and 5 residents of Kherson region became victims of fraudsters, and turned to law enforcement for help. In each of the cases, investigators have initiated criminal proceedings and are carrying out measures to identify the perpetrators.
Fraudsters relentlessly continue to mislead gullible citizens. And although the police daily carry out a preventive information campaign, there are still people who get hooked on scammers. After all, in an unforeseen stressful situation, everyone can do a frivolous act, because of which you can lose your savings.
The police was contacted by a 27-year-old resident of one of the villages of the Akhtyrsky district, who lost more than 10,000 hryvnias, having paid for the rent of an apartment to an unknown person. Usually, during the first call about the apartment you will be told that it is available and that you can go to see or settle in. But after a while they call and report that dozens of people want and in order to “hold” the apartment, you need to transfer money. You arrange a meeting, come, but the landlord calls you and informs you that he has had force majeure on the road and asks to transfer the money, and then disappears altogether.
How to protect yourself from intruders when renting housing? Making a successful real estate deal is really easy. It is only necessary to pay attention to a few simple signs. The first and most important rule: never transfer money to bank cards and mobile numbers before viewing housing and getting acquainted with his landlord, or before signing a lease agreement. If the price of an apartment or house is significantly less than the prices of other similar offers in the area, it is likely that the ad is placed by a fraudster. Be prudent and careful, then you can avoid problems.
In the Kherson region, over the past few days, citizens have lost 108 thousand hryvnias due to fraudulent actions. Under the pretext of “removing damage”, the scheme “your relative is in trouble”, under the guise of restoring documents and issuing money assistance to victims of war on dubious resources.
A 67-year-old resident of Kherson turned to the police. She reported that in the afternoon an unknown woman came to her house and asked for a glass of water. During the conversation, the stranger told the applicant that she had been “damaged” and needed to clean up the “dirty” money and gold jewelry in the house. The pensioner gave the fraudster 1000 hryvnias and gold earrings, after which the unknown left for the alleged ceremony. Within a few hours, the applicant realized that she had been searched and contacted the police.
Two women lost money while trying to apply for cash on dubious resources. The 61-year-old victim went to the link where allegedly mobile operators promised to replenish the account for free. The woman entered her personal and bank card details, after which 45,000 hryvnias disappeared from her account. The 56-year-old victim read information on the social network about providing cash assistance to victims of war, followed the link, entered the bank card details and lost 15,000 hryvnias.
A 44-year-old resident of the Skadovsky district, who is now abroad, decided to contact a domestic private firm via the Internet to recover lost driver's documents. The man found a website where they promised to restore the documents and asked for a deposit of 32000 hryvnia. The applicant transferred the funds, after which the site stopped responding to his messages, the documents, of course, no one recovered.
A 49-year-old man lost 15,000 hryvnias when he thought he was helping a relative. In the messenger, he received a message from an alleged niece, who urgently asked for money for treatment and sent the account number. Without hesitation, the excited man transferred the funds to the account. It was only after that that he called his niece and learned that her account had been hacked and that fraudsters were acting on her behalf.
According to all the facts, the police opened criminal proceedings under Article 190 “Fraud” of the Criminal Code.
Dear citizens, remember:
● in order not to lose money, information about any payments or on paperwork should be taken only from official sources, for consultation you can call the phones of organizations;
● do not follow unknown links and do not enter secret bank card data; ● if you are approached on the street strangers tell you that you are “spoiled”, immediately stop talking and walk away, in no case give such people money or valuable things;
● if they come to you
Messages from friends or relatives who urgently beg to borrow money for treatment, loan repayment or other needs are most likely scammers. Call this person yourself and find out if help is really needed.
National Police of Ukraine
