Fraud Alert: Scammers Impersonate IOM in Kherson Region, Warns Official

Unidentified persons posing as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are trying to deceive residents of Kherson region.

Roman Mrochko, head of the Kherson IOM, warned about the fraudulent scheme.

He said that the scammers send SMS messages about registering for heating assistance, but this is a fraud because IOM does not register for assistance via SMS or third-party websites. It also never asks for data such as the CVV/CVC code on the back of the card, the card pin, the login and password for online banking, or one-time codes from the bank or mobile operators.

IOM official contacts for inquiries:

• Hotline: +380 95 106 5555 (free of charge for Vodafone); +380 96 106 5555 (free of charge for Kyivstar); 0 800 21 5510 (free of charge for all operators).
• Official email: smukrcfm@iom.int.

Mrochko emphasized that the International Organization for Migration is a partner of the Kherson City Military Administration and has already helped many residents of our frontline community, but currently does not conduct any registrations for IOM assistance.

Intent has already written about how a resident of Beryslav district received a call from a "bank manager" who reported an attempt to unauthorizedly access her account. The pseudo-manager convinced the woman to give a code via SMS, after which 21 thousand hryvnias disappeared from her account. Two other residents of the region suffered from the "friend asks for a loan" scheme.

Also in Kherson region, people lost 144 thousand hryvnias trying to buy goods through unverified websites.

Meanwhile, Kherson police announced a new suspicion of fraudsters who sold non-existent cars for almost UAH 800 thousand. Thus, on one of the online trading platforms, they posted ads for the sale of cars with the requirement of mandatory prepayment. After the funds were transferred, the ad was removed. The criminals also misled the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Андрій Колісніченко