Fraudsters deceived a woman who wanted to sell a mobile phone

On December 15, scammers defrauded a Bukovinian woman of almost 20 thousand hryvnias.

This was reported by the Main Department of the National Police in Chernivtsi region.

A 29-year-old local resident filed a fraud complaint with police station No. 5 (Hlyboka) of Chernivtsi RUP.

The woman told the police that she intended to sell a mobile phone and placed an ad for sale on one of the internet platforms.

Then, a potential buyer wrote to her and sent a phishing link for an allegedly successful transfer of funds. Bukovynka trusted him, went to a suspicious internet address and entered confidential bank information. After that, 19,500 hryvnias were transferred from her card to unknown details.

The police entered information about the fact of the woman's funds being taken by fraud into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations under Art. 190 (Fraud) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.

The Bukovyna Police once again urge citizens not to lose vigilance and remind of simple rules that will help protect money from criminal encroachments:

– never provide personal data to anyone (passport number, individual tax number, passwords and secret codes for the card and from SMS messages);

– do not follow the instructions of strangers related to the transfer of funds;

– use only verified Internet resources and make sure that the name of the required site is correct. One inconspicuous character in a website address could mean it's phishing.

Natasha Kumar

By Natasha Kumar

Natasha Kumar has been a reporter on the news desk since 2018. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining The Times Hub, Natasha Kumar worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my natasha@thetimeshub.in 1-800-268-7116