A fraudster pretended to be a man and swindled 1.2 million hryvnias from a woman in Ternopil

A fraudster pretended to be a man and swindled 1.2 million hryvnias from a woman in Ternopil

A fraudster, pretending to be a man, asked for money for treatment of relatives, starting a "business", help to pay off "bandits" and made up other stories. Over two years of communication through a fake account on a social network, she swindled 1.2 million hryvnias from a resident of Ternopil. 

This was reported by the police of the Ternopil region.

The illegal activities of the fraudster were uncovered by detectives from the criminal investigation department of the National Police in the Ternopil region, together with employees of the cybercrime counteraction department.

During the pre-trial investigation, law enforcement established that the fraudster had created a fake account on a social network, pretending to be a man, and posted someone else’s photos. From this account, she sent messages to the Ternopil resident via messenger. During the correspondence, which lasted almost two years, the perpetrator gained the trust of the victim. The fraudster invented various situations, telling about her life difficulties, such as the need for money for treatment of relatives, starting a "business", help to pay off "bandits", and other fictitious stories. In this way, she systematically swindled money from her victim. The total amount obtained by the fraudster was 1.2 million UAH.

After one of these "staged situations", the Ternopil resident, suspecting deceit, sought help from the police.

Police detectives tracked the transfer of funds that the victim had sent and identified the person who had been corresponding online. It turned out that a 26-year-old resident of Chernivtsi was involved in the fraud. During the receipt of the next amount from the victim, law enforcement detained the perpetrator under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.

Police investigators announced suspicion under Part 4 of Article 190 (fraud committed in large amounts) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The sanction of the article provides for 3 to 8 years of imprisonment. The issue of selecting a preventive measure is being decided.

At present, the pre-trial investigation continues. Investigators are checking the woman for involvement in similar crimes.