At the service of fraudsters: Ukrainians’ losses from technological fraud reached 1.4 billion

At the service of fraudsters: Ukrainians’ losses from technological fraud reached 1.4 billion

During the first five months of 2026, financial fraud in Ukraine, especially transactions involving bank accounts, has become noticeably more technological and more targeted. Fraudsters are increasingly using artificial intelligence to generate fake calls, letters, counterfeit websites, and fraudulent offers that are becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish from authentic ones.

The main change is that AI has enabled fraudsters to significantly expand already known methods — social engineering, phishing, fake calls “from the bank,” or pseudo-charitable collections. This was told to OBOZ.UA by Anna Dovhalska, Deputy Chairwoman of the Board of Globus Bank.

“Artificial intelligence only heightens the danger. Thanks to it, messages become more convincing, calls — more realistic, and the attacks themselves — much faster,” the banker commented.

Using AI, fraudsters can personalize attacks by leveraging open data from social networks, messengers, work profiles, or public photos. Messages often mention a person’s workplace, manager’s name, recent trips, or the usual services they use.

Interestingly, the total number of fraudulent transactions with payment cards in 2025 decreased by 5% and amounted to 256,000 cases (data from the National Bank of Ukraine). At the same time:

• the amount of losses increased by almost a quarter and reached UAH 1.4 billion;
• the average size of a single fraudulent transaction rose by 30% — to UAH 5,536;
• 83% of all fraudulent transactions were carried out via the internet;
• 90% of losses were caused specifically by social engineering.

Which fraud schemes are most commonly used

The most common scheme remains calls and messages supposedly from bank representatives, telecom operators, or government agencies. In such cases, they try to scare the person with:

• a “suspicious transaction”;
• account blocking;
• the need to “urgently save the funds.”

The essence of the manipulation is purely psychological pressure. Under the influence of fear, victims themselves provide card details, CVV codes, or SMS passwords.

A separate threat has emerged in the form of AI phishing. Fraudsters create fake websites of banks, marketplaces, delivery services, and charitable foundations that are almost indistinguishable from the originals. According to Dovhalska, more than 80% of modern phishing emails already show signs of artificial intelligence use.

The banker also drew attention to the spread of deepfake technology. Fraudsters can imitate the voice and video of real people using short audio recordings from social networks or messengers.

“In the simplest cases, a person receives a call on behalf of a relative or acquaintance asking them to transfer money urgently. In more complex schemes, they may fake a company executive’s voice and demand an immediate payment,” Dovhalska explained.

According to experts, in some AI-powered attacks the click-through rate on phishing links can reach 54%, whereas in ordinary mass phishing this figure is only about 2.7%.

How to protect yourself from AI fraud

Ukrainians are advised to follow several simple digital security rules. The main goal of fraudsters is to make a person voluntarily hand over access to funds or confirm a transaction. To reduce risks, it is recommended to:

• never share your CVV code, PIN code, one-time SMS passwords, or online banking login details with anyone;
• not click on suspicious links from SMS messages, messengers, or email;
• carefully check the website address before entering card details;
• use only official apps from the App Store or Google Play;
• end the call if a supposed “bank employee” demands urgent actions or a money transfer;
• verify requests for money transfers through another communication channel, even if they come from a familiar person;
• enable two-factor authentication for banking apps, email, and messengers;
• register the SIM card with your mobile operator to reduce the risk of financial number theft.

Dovhalska emphasizes that the main tools of fraudsters remain haste and psychological pressure. If a person is being scared with account blocking, loss of money, or forced to act “immediately,” they should stop and verify the information.