Large-scale deception: Vinnytsia prisoners swindled money from clients of the largest state bank

Ukrainian intelligence services liquidated a large underground call center operating in a Vinnitsa prison, where prisoners, posing as bank employees, extorted funds from clients under false pretenses.

SBU cyber specialists and cyber police officers neutralized a criminal organization that was massively swindling money from Ukrainians’ bank cards. The criminals accounted for almost 70% of all fraudulent schemes ever applied to one of the leading state-owned banks of Ukraine.

The number of defrauded clients is in the tens of thousands.

According to the investigation, about 30 prisoners of the Vinnitsa colony were participants in the scheme.

It was established that the illegal activity was organized by the so-called “supervisor” of one of the correctional colonies in the Vinnytsia region, a criminal prisoner nicknamed “Gesha.” He involved up to 30 people in illegal activities, most of whom were serving sentences in prison, or their accomplices who had already been released. The defendants called bank clients and introduced themselves as “security officers” of the financial institution. During such conversations, the attackers informed depositors that fraudsters were allegedly trying to break their payment cards. The attackers then invited citizens to transfer funds to a so-called “secure account” through an online application in order to “protect their savings from scammers.” Thus, the defendants misled the victims and forced them to transfer their money to the scammers’ controlled bank accounts.

Based on the collected evidence, 10 criminals were informed of suspicion under articles on the establishment and distribution of criminal influence committed in penal institutions and fraud, one - under articles on the creation, management of a criminal organization, which is in the status of a subject of increased criminal influence, including the status of “thief in law” and fraud, seven - under the article of fraud.

Record-breaking fraud activity has been recorded in Ukraine. In the eight months of 2023, 59,605 criminal fraud proceedings were initiated, the highest level in the last two years.