How Ukrainians in Poland took out loans worth UAH 4 million using DeepFake
14 October 2025 14:54
The National Police of Ukraine has reported the exposure of an international fraud scheme in which a group of people from Poland issued loans to Ukrainians using artificial intelligence technologies, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
According to the investigation, the suspects obtained personal data of online banking users and created DeepFake videos to pass verification in the mobile applications of Ukrainian banks.
Who is behind the scheme
The suspects are a 33-year-old Ukrainian woman living in Poland, her ex-husband and an acquaintance from Mykolaiv. The woman allegedly received personal data of users – financial numbers, passwords, authorization codes. The data was transferred to other participants who logged in to the mobile applications of Ukrainian banks and to Diia through the BankID system. Then, based on the documents from Diia, they created DeepFake videos, which allowed fraudsters to pass identity verification.
How the scheme worked
The attackers logged into banking applications on behalf of other people. They used DeepFake to pass verification. They entered into loan agreements or opened accounts on behalf of Ukrainians. The funds were transferred to controlled accounts in various financial institutions. Then they converted the money into cryptocurrency and withdrew it in cash.
The police found that at least 286 people suffered from the group’s actions, and the total amount of losses exceeds UAH 4 million.
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Legal qualification
The three suspects were notified of being suspected under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- Fraud committed on an especially large scale (Part 5 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
- Unauthorized interference in the work of information and communication systems (Part 3 of Article 28, Part 5 of Article 361 of the Criminal Code).
If proven guilty, the suspects face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
Why it is important
This case was one of the first recorded examples of DeepFake being used in financial fraud against Ukrainians, involving AI technologies and government services like Diia.
It demonstrates that the combination of personal data leakage and generative AI creates new risks – even for systems that have multi-level authentication.
As a reminder, in 2024-2025, Ukrainian banks repeatedly warned of unauthorized login attempts via BankID.
In May 2025, the National Bank announced a review of the cyber security of financial institutions following a series of phishing incidents.
Meanwhile, the EU and Poland have recorded an increase in DeepFake fraud, particularly in online credit and insurance services.
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