The perpetrator, a 30-year-old resident of Lviv, who organized a criminal scheme on the Internet, was exposed by the employees of the Office for Combating Cybercrimes in the Lviv Region together with the investigators of the Lviv District Police Department No. 1 under the procedural guidance of the Galicia District Prosecutor’s Office.
The police received several reports from citizens that they were deceived by an online fraudster who offered them to buy spare parts and then disappeared after receiving the advance payment.
As the law enforcement officers established, a 30-year-old resident of Lviv searched the Internet for people who intended to purchase spare parts for a car. The attacker offered them the desired product, although he did not actually have it in stock. After customers paid in advance, the “seller” disappeared.
At least seven episodes of online fraud perpetrated by the attacker have been identified.
Investigators of the territorial division of the police informed him of the suspicion of committing a criminal offense provided for in Part 3 of Article 190 (Fraud committed through illegal operations using electronic computing equipment) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The sanction of the article provides for punishment – deprivation of liberty for a term of three to eight years.
The pre-trial investigation is ongoing. Law enforcement officers are identifying other persons who may have become victims of an online fraudster.
Communications Department of the Lviv Oblast Police