A new type of romance scam is gaining traction online. Scammers are exploiting the war in Ukraine and fabricating stories about “women imprisoned in occupied territories” to swindle thousands of euros from men in EU countries. Details of the investigation were published by The Kyiv Independent in collaboration with the humanitarian organization Helping to Leave.
The “rescue” scheme: from love to extortion
The scam scenario is nearly identical in every case. Scammers create profiles on popular dating sites (UkraineDate, Christian Cupid, International Cupid) or message men directly on Instagram or X (Twitter).
After an online romance begins, the woman starts complaining about dramatic circumstances: life in occupied Energodar or Donetsk, unemployment, hunger, and illness. The women categorically refuse offers to video chat, citing “poor internet connection” or “not having a smartphone.”
Eventually, a request for financial assistance appears—supposedly for tickets, bribes at checkpoints, payment of fictitious “fines,” or settling debts that prevent them from leaving the occupied zone.
Real-life cases:
Stefan, a 48-year-old man from Austria, corresponded for three months with “Alona Panchenko” from Energodar. She sent him photos and a fake passport. When she asked for money to escape, he became suspicious and contacted investigators.
Carsten from Germany transferred over 2,500 euros to “Victoria from the occupied territory.” She sent him a photo holding a piece of paper with his name written on it. As it turned out later, the image had been generated by artificial intelligence. Another foreign victim transferred approximately 9,000 euros to the scammers.
AI technologies, deepfakes, and fake passports
Journalists analyzed 58 similar cases. The results of the investigation are striking:
Stolen faces: Of the 22 real photographs analyzed, none of the women actually lived under occupation. The scammers simply used photos of bloggers from Ukraine, Moldova, or Russia (for example, the photos of “Alona” belonged to a Moldovan model, and those of “Victoria” to a Russian woman).
Generated Content: In many cases, photos, documents, and even video footage were altered using generative AI (Deepfake).
Fake geolocation: Scammers sent “live geolocation” updates on WhatsApp that showed they were in an occupied city. Using GPS spoofing tools, such a location can be faked from anywhere in the world.
Where Does the Money Actually Go?
The most absurd aspect of these schemes turned out to be the method of transferring funds. The scammers asked people to send money via Western Union, MoneyGram, or RIA, specifying Ukraine as the destination country. However, these payment systems do not operate in Russian-occupied territories, so it is physically impossible to withdraw the funds in Energodar or Donetsk.
In addition, investigators found a direct “Russian connection” in several cases: in one instance, the payment details for a “tourism company for evacuation” belonged to a Russian citizen with an account at a Russian bank.
The organization Helping to Leave notes that in recent years it has recorded about 200 similar requests from foreigners, and now such requests are coming in up to four times a week.
