In Transcarpathia, prosecutors from the Uzhhorod District Prosecutor's Office, together with employees of the National Police of Ukraine, returned nearly 3 million hryvnias to the family of a captured defender, which had been illegally seized by fraudsters. This concerns state payments that the family had saved, waiting for the return of their son, who has been in captivity since January 2023.

According to the investigation, in July 2025, the 71-year-old mother of the serviceman ordered medication online and picked it up at the delivery operator's office. After that, the victim began receiving new messages stating that more packages were on their way to her. Realizing that she had not made any other orders, the woman did not go to collect the parcels. 

At the same time, she started receiving calls from individuals who introduced themselves as law enforcement officers and bank employees. They informed her that a criminal proceeding had allegedly been opened against her and began accusing her of ordering explosives and engaging in collaboration activities. They also persistently inquired about the family's savings and demanded that she transfer money for supposed "declaration purposes."

At the end of August, under hours of psychological pressure and during a one-sided video call, the victims handed over 1 million 950 thousand hryvnias and 25 thousand US dollars to an unknown man. A "courier" picked up the cash from in front of their house, after which the money was transferred to a cryptocurrency exchange. 

The next day, the fraudsters began demanding another 50 thousand hryvnias. At that point, the family realized they were dealing with a scam and reported it to the authorities.

Law enforcement organized a series of coordinated investigative actions, quickly located and soon returned the funds to the victims.

Pre-trial investigation is ongoing within the framework of criminal proceedings under Part 5 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (fraud committed on a particularly large scale). All individuals involved in the crime are being identified. The investigation is being conducted by investigators of the VPU No. 1 of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Transcarpathian region with operational support from the UCR of the DSR of the NPU. The Uzhhorod District Prosecutor's Office is providing procedural guidance.

The prosecutor's office urges citizens to be vigilant, not to trust phone calls from unknown individuals, and to immediately contact law enforcement in case of the slightest suspicion.