Law enforcement officers in Odessa exposed a fraudulent scheme organized by a 23-year-old local resident. She created a fake site for paying for parking, posted an ad with tariffs and attached QR codes near one of the parking lots in the city’s Peresypsk district. The site collected data from users’ bank cards, after which funds totaling more than 20,000 hryvnias were withdrawn from their accounts.
At the end of March, five residents of the city contacted Police Department No. 2 of Odesa District Police Department No. 1 with statements about the disappearance of funds from their bank accounts. The applicants included both men and women. During the investigation, which lasted several days, the law enforcement officers identified a person who was probably involved in the fraud – she turned out to be a 23-year-old resident of Odesa.
The attacker created a fake site imitating an online parking payment service in the city and attached a QR code near one of the parking lots in the Peresypsk district, which redirected users to this resource. Visually, the site did not differ from the official one, but in order to make a payment, visitors had to enter the full bank card details — number, CVV code, and security codes in the form of a login and password.
Drivers, following the QR code, entered confidential data, which immediately reached the attacker. Using these data, the girl accessed the victim’s banking applications and transferred funds to her own account. Individual amounts ranged from 4,000 to 5,100 hryvnias. The total amount of stolen funds amounted to 22,700 hryvnias, which the girl spent on personal needs.
Her phone, laptop and bank card, which she used to implement the scheme, were confiscated. Criminal proceedings have been instituted against the suspect under Part 4 Art. 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — fraud. The case was referred to the court. The girl admitted her guilt and compensated all the victims. According to the law, she faces up to eight years in prison.
Photo: od.npu.gov.ua
