A gang of scammers who stole from volunteers and military personnel was defeated in Moldova and Ukraine

Law enforcement officers of Ukraine and Moldova exposed a large criminal group. Fraudsters profited from military personnel, their families and volunteers, the OGPU reports.

The members of the group were residents of the Odessa region - members of two families who, after the start of the full-scale invasion, moved to Moldova. The criminal group operated in the territory of Moldova and Ukraine during 2023-2024.

Fraudsters used Ukrainian phone numbers to post advertisements for the sale of cars and drones from abroad for the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The announcement was published on OLX, Bon.Ua and Avto-Ria.

They offered potential buyers to make an advance payment on the card, and then did not contact them. The criminals invested in luxury cars and gold jewelry.

As of now, 67 episodes of fraud have been identified. The amount of damage is about 46 million hryvnia.

Currently, at least 27 members of the criminal group have been identified, most of them are located on the territory of Moldova. Nine Ukrainians were detained in Moldova and suspected of fraud. Eight of them chose preventive measures in the form of continued detention without the possibility of bail.

In Moldova, 23 searches were carried out, about 61 thousand dollars, 20 luxury cars, about five kg of gold, mobile phones, bank cards, black notes were seized.

13 searches were conducted on the territory of Ukraine, during which three cars, mobile phones, bank cards, and rough records were seized.