Ukraine (UA)

Fraudsters clone the branding of legitimate NGOs, military fundraisers, or humanitarian organisations — including United24 (the official Ukrainian government fundraising platform), Come Back Alive, Razom for Ukraine, and others — on social media pages and Telegram channels. Emotional imagery of war damage is stolen and reposted. Donations go to personal payment cards (Monobank, PrivatBank cards) rather than to verified organisational accounts. This is one of the highest-volume fraud categories affecting international donors and residents since February 2022.

SMS and messaging app phishing impersonates the Diia digital government services platform, PrivatBank, Monobank, Oschadbank, Nova Poshta, and Ukrainian customs. Messages claim account blockages, parcel clearance requirements, or mandatory document verification. Links lead to convincing fake sites that capture credentials and one-time passwords in real time. Diia is specifically targeted because it holds Ukrainian identity documents, residence records, and vehicle data.

Ukraine's wartime property market carries elevated fraud risk. Fraudsters sell properties without clean title: off-plan developments abandoned due to the war, properties with unresolved ownership disputes caused by displacement, war-damaged buildings sold without disclosure of structural damage, and double-sales where the same property is sold to multiple buyers exploiting disrupted registry processes. The internal displacement crisis has created high demand in western Ukrainian cities (Lviv, Uzhhorod, Ivano-Frankivsk) with prices and fraud incidents both elevated.

Fraudulent rental listings target both foreign expats and Ukrainian internal migrants who have been displaced by the war. Beautiful apartments listed below market price have an owner who is "abroad" (framed as a refugee or displaced person) and requires an urgent deposit by cryptocurrency or international transfer. Given the displacement crisis and high rental demand in Kyiv, Lviv, and Odesa, this scam is particularly prevalent.

Fraudsters offer paid evacuation assistance, relocation services, cross-border transport, or refugee accommodation placement — targeting both Ukrainians attempting to flee conflict zones and foreigners attempting to travel into or through Ukraine. Victims pay fees in advance for transport that never arrives, accommodation that does not exist, or documentation services that produce worthless or fraudulent papers.

Unregistered agents promise guaranteed work permits, residence registration, or other immigration approvals from the State Migration Service of Ukraine (DMSU), sometimes requiring passport retention. Wartime administrative disruptions are used as justification for requesting informal channels and higher fees.