Fraudsters have already created several accounts of council chairmen in Odesa region to collect money

The heads of three councils in Odesa region reported that fraudsters are becoming more active, creating fake accounts and collecting money from entrepreneurs on their behalf.

In particular, this was reported by Serhiy Parpulansky, head of the Artsyz City Council, and Vyacheslav Chernyavsky, head of the Kiliya City Council.

Rodion Abashev, the head of the Izmail District Council, also reported the fraudsters. It should be noted that this is not the first time in Odesa region that fraudsters have impersonated heads of departments. In the fall of 2024, well-known fraudsters sent letters to entrepreneurs in the Odesa region on behalf of the head of the Odesa Regional State Administration, Oleh Kiper, demanding funds to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In August, the Izmail District State Administration also recorded fraudsters sending letters in Odesa Oblast allegedly on behalf of the head of the District State Administration, Rodion Abashev. These letters contained a request to participate in humanitarian aid and to provide financial resources for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In April 2024, Odesa police sent to court the case of an organized criminal group of pseudo-volunteers who were extorting money from residents of the region to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

During the pre-trial investigation, the police established that a resident of Odesa organized the criminal group, involving two acquaintances. The criminals, posing as philanthropists who were allegedly abroad, called the military, representatives of the clergy, and volunteer organizations, saying that they wanted to donate a car or other humanitarian aid to the Armed Forces, but that they needed funds to deliver the charity to the required destination. And the misled citizens transferred money to the accounts indicated by the pseudo-volunteers.

To make sure that the victims had no doubts about the charitable intentions of the scammers, during telephone conversations, they created the impression that a car or other cargo was already on the way - the noise of a busy road, vehicle signals, etc.

In total, as of April 2024, more than 24 thousand criminal cases were opened in Ukraine under Article 190 "Fraud" in the first quarter of 2024, according to the Prosecutor General's Office.

This is significantly more than in the same period last year.

Кирило Бойко