Fraudster Deceives Odessa Residents via Fake Website
In just three days, a fraudster deceived five residents of Odessa, causing them losses exceeding 20,000 hryvnias. Investigators have filed charges against the suspect, who now faces imprisonment.
At the end of March, five local residents approached the police department No. 2 of the Odessa District Police with complaints. Both men and women reported that money had disappeared from their bank accounts.
During the investigation, it was established that a 23-year-old woman from Odessa was involved in the crime.
The woman created a cloned website for parking payments in Odessa and placed a QR code leading to it near a parking spot in the Peresyp district. The site looked identical to the official one, but required users to input their bank card details for authorization.
By scanning the QR code, citizens entered confidential information that was captured by the fraudster. Using the acquired data, she accessed the victims' banking apps and transferred funds from their accounts to her own. Amounts ranged from 4,000 to 5,100 hryvnias. The total losses amounted to 22,700 hryvnias, which the fraudster spent for personal use.
As evidence, the police seized her mobile phone, laptop, and bank card used for the fraud.
“After gathering sufficient evidence, investigators charged the suspect under Part 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine for misappropriating someone else's property through deception. The indictment has been sent to court. The accused has acknowledged her guilt and has already compensated the victims for their losses. According to current legislation, the maximum penalty she faces is eight years of imprisonment,” reported Valentina Istomina, head of the investigative unit of the police department.
We urge guests and residents of Odessa to be cautious: the cashless parking payment process involves scanning the QR code on the road sign and subsequent authorization through the Diia app or your banking app. Entering your bank card number, CVV code, or passwords is not required by the official website. Be careful, keep your confidential data private, and do not allow fraudsters to deceive you.
Source: https://od.npu.gov.ua/news/stvoryla-feikovyi-sait-oplaty-parkuvannia-aby-zavolodity-hroshyma-vodiiv-v-odesi-politseiski-vykryly-shakhraisku-skhemu-23-richnoi-divchyny
