Almost a thousand victims and over $1.1 million in losses: a large-scale crypto fraud scheme was exposed in Ukraine

Law enforcement officers have exposed a criminal organization that, under the guise of teaching cryptocurrency investments, defrauded almost a thousand Ukrainians. Among the victims are pensioners, people with disabilities, seriously ill people, and citizens who lost their savings, postponed for treatment or the purchase of housing.

According to the National Police, investigators have identified 988 unique accounts that may belong to the victims. The preliminary amount of losses is about 1 million 110 thousand US dollars.

How the scheme worked

The organizers operated under the name “Ukrainian Financial Academy”, advertising cryptocurrency investment courses on Facebook and Instagram. Potential clients were promised the help of professional traders, stable income, and quick profits.

After a person left an application, managers found out his financial condition and gradually gained trust. Then the so-called traders convinced them to invest in controlled accounts and crypto wallets.

On a specially created platform, victims were shown fictitious profits to stimulate new investments. Sometimes they even allowed them to withdraw a small amount to finally convince people of the alleged reality of earnings.

When investors tried to return their own money, their accounts were blocked. To “unblock” them, additional payments were demanded under the guise of commissions, taxes, or contributions to the reserve fund.

The most vulnerable became victims

According to the police, the participants in the scheme deliberately chose people who were in difficult life circumstances.

Among the victims was a woman with cancer who transferred about 500 thousand hryvnias to the scammers, intended for treatment. The attackers knew about her health condition, but continued to demand new transfers.

After losing all their savings, people were persuaded to take out loans or transfer family savings set aside for the purchase of housing.

In addition, the fraudsters used the victims themselves to attract new victims. One of the women, who had also seen fictitious profits on the platform, was persuaded to record a positive video review. This video was later used in advertising campaigns to deceive other citizens.

The organizers were detained

Law enforcement officers conducted dozens of searches in the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

Investigators of the Main Investigation Department of the National Police, together with the cyber police, detained four key members of the criminal organization. The court has already chosen a preventive measure in the form of detention for them.

According to the investigation, two suspects coordinated the group’s activities, selected participants, distributed roles and received funds. The others were responsible for advertising, finding new clients, and direct communication with the victims.

The defendants were informed of suspicion under Part 4, Part 5 of Article 190 (fraud on an especially large scale) and Part 1, Part 2 of Article 255 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (creation and participation in a criminal organization).

If convicted, they face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.

Currently, investigators are identifying other participants in the scheme and the full range of victims. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.