Ukrainian scammers are using fake dating profiles to swindle thousands of pounds from gullible Russian men to help fund their nation’s war effort.
The group, known as the Money Army, uses a variety of tactics to trick Russian soldiers, police officers, students at military academies and other professions into handing over up to £19,000.
The 100 or so scammers meet men on Divinchik, a popular dating app in Russia, using fake profiles created with photographs of beautiful women.
Arthur, a scammer from the Money Army, told the Telegraph that once they meet Russian men, their aim is to get them to buy tickets to fake events.
‘During the dialogue, when the case comes to the meeting, my task is to invite the men to one of the events we have on a fake house website.
‘For example, to the theatre, to a comedy show, to the ballet or to the cinema. And then the man never meets the woman.’
Ukrainian scammers use fake dating profiles to scam thousands of pounds from gullible Russian men
The 100 or so scammers meet men on Divinchik, a popular dating app in Russia, using fake profiles created with photos of beautiful women.
A pair of tickets typically costs around £35, and participants are asked to pay using cryptocurrencies, touted for their untraceability, unlike regular fiat currency.
Once the transaction is complete, the scammers will tell the Russian men that they cannot make the appointment and suggest they request a refund.
The Telegram customer support channel, which is often the same scammer on another fake profile, then begins the second part of the scam.
“The system tells the men to buy two more tickets as a deposit to get a refund for the initial tickets,” Arthur said.
‘Thanks to which they put more money into him, in principle an unlimited amount, depending on how stupid he is.
‘They start telling the victim that they made a mistake when filling out the return form. They already made two payments, now they have to make four.’
The Money Army usually make around £100 per scam, but the fraudster revealed the most money they have ever taken from a man was £19,000.
A view shows the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the village of Budy, Kharkiv region.
General view of a private house with its roof destroyed after the Russian attack on July 8, 2024 in Kharkiv, Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov listen to the commander of the Ground Forces, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, while visiting a Ukrainian military position in the city of Kupiansk.
While some of the money goes to the Ukrainian military, the bulk goes to paying staff. Arthur said he earns around £1,600 a month for his work.
But the Ukrainian military will take all the money it can get, given the state of the war, which has now lasted 28 months.
Russian airstrikes in Ukraine killed four people on Saturday, officials said, as the two countries traded drone strikes, one of which set fire to a Russian oil depot.
Two people were killed in the partially occupied Kherson region and two others were wounded in the attack near the regional capital, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
Two more people were killed and 22 wounded on Saturday afternoon in the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov.
An oil depot in Tsimlyansky district, inside the Rostov region in southwestern Russia, caught fire in the early hours of Saturday following a Ukrainian drone strike, the latest long-range attack by Kiev forces in a border region.
