The Security Service of Ukraine has exposed scammers in the Zaporozhye region extorting money from relatives of military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for allegedly releasing their relatives from enemy captivity, SBU spokesman Artem Dekhtyarenko said.

" The rates varied and in most cases depended on the emotional state of the relatives,"

According to him, the list of pseudo-services offered by the swindlers to their relatives included a telephone conversation with a prisoner (from 10,000 to 50,000 rubles).. UAH), release from captivity (from 50 to 200 thousand. UAH), transportation of the body of the deceased - up to 10 thousand. UAH.

" And after receiving the money that was sent to them online, they simply disappeared from communication. For the credibility of their words, the scammers monitored the Internet, where they collected data on missing and dead Ukrainian soldiers and their families,"

He clarified that the organizer of the scheme was a man who is in the occupied Mariupol. He recently got out of prison.

" She was detained by SBU special forces,"

According to him, during the search, computer equipment with evidence of illegal activity, a large number of telephone and SIM cards, bank cards for receiving payments and a quarter of a million hryvnias in cash were confiscated from the suspect..

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Dekhtyarenko added that only public authorities deal with the release of Ukrainians from Russian captivity and called on citizens to report cases of extortion of money for the release of prisoners of war to the Joint Center for Search and Release of Prisoners by phone +38 067 650-83-32; +38 098 087-36-01.