A fraudster cheated a woman out of $12 thousand for the release of her son from the shopping mall

Police detained a resident of Odesa on suspicion of large-scale fraud, namely, extortion of money from the mother of a conscript.

According to the press service of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Odesa region, the man, who had no relation to the territorial center for recruitment and social support, called the woman and introduced himself as a military officer of the TSC and convinced her that her son had allegedly been mobilized.

The only way to release him, the fraudster said, was to immediately transfer money. The man demanded 12.5 thousand dollars, constantly emphasizing that this was the only way to resolve the issue, and it had to be done immediately.

The man ordered the woman to leave the money in an agreed place, and as soon as he took it from the hiding place, he was detained with the force support of the Special Police Battalion of the Main Department of the National Police in Odesa region.

The police seized the illegally obtained money from the suspect. Based on sufficient evidence, investigators served the detainee a notice of suspicion of large-scale fraud. If proven guilty, the man faces imprisonment for up to eight years.

The court has now imposed on the suspect a custodial measure of restraint with the right to be released on bail in the amount of UAH 532,500, which he did not use.

It should be noted that in 2025, law enforcement officers registered 2,947 fraud cases in Odesa region, so the region ranked fifth in the country by the number of such proceedings. The analysts noted that, in general, the figures have actually returned to the level of 2016. Back then, just over 46 thousand fraud proceedings were registered in Ukraine. After 2017 and before the full-scale invasion, the number of new proceedings steadily decreased from year to year.

Кирило Бойко