Scammers profit from the "thousands from Zelenskyy"

Scammers profit from the "thousands from Zelenskyy"

Ukrainians continue to fall into the trap of scammers who use popular topics for phishing attacks. This time, the criminals took advantage of pensioners’ trust by offering them "financial assistance" from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Writer and journalist Masha Serdyuk shared how her mother became a victim of scammers.

According to Serdyuk, the criminals acted according to a standard scheme: the pensioner received a message offering to receive "a thousand hryvnias from Zelenskyy" through a special link. The woman clicked on the phishing link, after which the scammers contacted her and arranged loans in her name in three banks — PrivatBank, Monobank, and PUMB.

"My mother, a pensioner, became a victim of internet scammers; a loan of over 200,000 UAH was taken out in her name in three banks: Privat, Mono, Pumb. In short: she followed a link with a call to receive a thousand from Zelenskyy. The link was phishing, the scammers immediately contacted her, and you understand what happened next," wrote Masha Serdyuk on social media.

The woman immediately contacted the police and filed claims in all the banks. However, the situation turned out to be much more complex than it seemed.

"The police say it’s some kind of global scheme, my mother isn’t the first and won’t be the last. They hint that the case is dead, it’s unlikely anything can be resolved. The banks say it’s my mother’s fault for revealing her data, and they claim they know nothing, saying the debt is hers, she must repay both the loan and the interest," the journalist reported.

The situation is complicated by the fact that even if the court recognizes the fraud, it may only happen in a year or two, and during this time, the loan interest will significantly increase.

"Pre-trial investigation is ongoing, the verdict recognizing that she was genuinely deceived can only be made by the court. And the court may occur in a year or two. By that time, as you understand, the interest may accumulate more than the debt itself. And this interest, in any case, will have to be paid, banks do not forgive that," notes Serdyuk.

The writer also asks for advice and legal assistance from those who have already faced similar situations: "Maybe there’s a lawyer who specializes in such issues? I will pay for the consultation, of course. Because my mom already found ‘one good girl’ who took a couple of thousand hryvnias and then said she can’t help," she noted.

Serdyuk urged Ukrainians to be cautious and to warn their relatives about such schemes. She emphasizes that scammers specifically target pensioners, who are not always familiar with modern technologies.

"Warn your parents about fraud — obviously, they work specifically with pensioners, who are not very knowledgeable about technology," the journalist added.