Law enforcement officers in the Lviv region have neutralized a criminal group that was using forged documents to appropriate drones, posing as buyers on a marketplace. The organizer turned out to be a 37-year-old prisoner from the Drohobych colony. The losses from the actions of the scammers amount to at least UAH 380,000.
Law enforcement officers in the Lviv region have neutralized a criminal group that was using forged documents to appropriate drones, posing as buyers on a marketplace. The organizer turned out to be a 37-year-old prisoner from the Drohobych colony. The losses from the actions of the scammers amount to at least UAH 380,000.
According to the Cyber Police, the criminal group consisted of five people aged 26 to 59: an organizer, a co-organizer, two perpetrators, and an accomplice. Despite the fact that the leader of the group is already serving a sentence for property crimes, he remotely controlled the actions of his accomplices from a penitentiary institution.
The attackers found ads for UAVs on a popular marketplace and contacted sellers posing as buyers. They convinced victims to send the drones by mail, assuring them that they would pay for the goods directly at the branch after inspection.
Not intending to pay, the scammers picked up parcels at post offices using forged documents before the sellers learned about the fraud.
Recently, cyber police operatives and investigators of the Main Department of Internal Affairs in Lviv region, together with employees of the State Institution "Drohobych Correctional Colony No. 40" and under the procedural guidance of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor's Office, detained four suspects.
Law enforcement officers conducted 16 searches in Zhytomyr and Lviv regions, including in the organizer's cell. During the investigative actions, the following items were seized:
33 mobile phones, dozens of SIM and bank cards;
computer equipment and documentation;
over $12,000 in cash.
According to available data, the confirmed amount of losses is 380 thousand hryvnias. However, an analysis of the seized material evidence shows that the real "earnings" of the fraudsters may exceed 1.4 million hryvnias. Currently, investigators are establishing the full range of victims.
All five members of the group were reported under suspicion under Part 5 of Article 190 (Fraud) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Four accomplices of the organizer were taken into custody.
The suspects face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property. Law enforcement officials note that the actions of the suspects may receive additional legal qualifications.
