Fraudsters profit from “thousands from Zelensky”: a pensioner was given a loan for UAH 200 thousand
15 January 11:06
Ukrainians continue to fall victim to fraudsters who use popular topics for phishing attacks. This time, the scammers took advantage of pensioners’ trust by offering them “financial assistance” from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Writer and journalist Masha Serdyuk told how her mother became a victim of fraud, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
According to Serdyuk, the scammers acted according to a standard scheme: the pensioner received a message offering to receive “a thousand hryvnias from Zelensky” via a special link. The woman clicked on the phishing link, after which the fraudsters contacted her and arranged loans in her name at three banks at once – PrivatBank, Monobank, and FUIB.
“My retired mother became a victim of online fraudsters, and she was given a loan of over UAH 200,000 from three banks – Privat, Mono, and PUMB. In short: she clicked on a link calling for a thousand from Zelensky. The link was phishing, she was immediately contacted by fraudsters, and you can imagine what happened,” Masha Serdyuk wrote on social media.
The woman immediately went to the police and filed complaints with all the banks. However, the situation turned out to be much more complicated than it seemed.
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“The police say it’s some kind of global scheme, my mom is not the first and not the last. They hint that the case is dead, and it’s unlikely to be resolved. The banks say that it’s my mother’s fault because she leaked her data to them, but they say we don’t know anything, the debt is yours, you have to pay both the loan and the interest on this loan,” the journalist said.
The situation is complicated by the fact that even if the court recognizes the fact of fraud, it can happen only in a year or two, and during this time the interest on the loans will increase significantly.
“The pre-trial investigation is underway, and only the court can make a verdict that she was actually deceived. And the trial may be in a year or two. And during this time, as you know, the interest can run up more than this debt. And this interest will have to be paid in any case, as banks do not forgive this,” Serdyuk notes.
The writer also asks for advice and legal assistance from those who have already faced similar situations:
“Maybe there’s a lawyer who knows about such issues? I will pay for the consultation, of course. Because my mother has already found a “good girl” who charged her a couple thousand hryvnias and then said she could not help,” she said.
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Serdyuk urged Ukrainians to be careful and warn their relatives against such schemes. She emphasizes that fraudsters are targeting pensioners who are not always up-to-date with modern technologies.
“Warn your parents about fraud – it is obvious that they work with pensioners who are not very tech-savvy,” the journalist added.
It should be noted that cybersecurity experts advise never to follow dubious links and to check any information about financial assistance in official sources. If you or your loved ones have become victims of fraud, you should immediately contact the cyber police and relevant financial institutions.
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