Since the onset of the Great War, the number of fraud cases in Kharkiv region has quadrupled.

In 2024, law enforcement registered 6,489 crimes related to fraud in the Kharkiv region.

This is confirmed by an official response from the National Police to a request from the media group "Obyektiv".

In comparison, the year before the full-scale invasion (2021) saw only 1,741 fraudulent crimes. In 2022, when a significant portion of Kharkiv's residents left and a large part of the region was under occupation, the official statistics recorded 1,151 such crimes. By 2023, the number of fraud cases had risen to 6,063.

In 2024, there were 1,437 fraudulent crimes reported in the Kharkiv region, leading to suspicion against 372 offenders.

Online sales of services and goods remain the preferred method of fraud for criminals. In the past year, law enforcement in Kharkiv recorded 1,368 such crimes in the region.

Fraudsters keep pace with technological advancements. An increasing number of various cybercriminals are being recorded. In 2024, scammers particularly enjoyed setting traps through phishing links, with 655 such crimes documented. Account hacks numbered 511. Additionally, in 449 instances, criminals gained access to accounts under the guise of calling from bank security service representatives. Moreover, 173 residents of Kharkiv fell victim while trying to quickly earn large sums, including through cryptocurrency exchanges.

Overall, Kharkiv law enforcement solved 27.1% of fraud schemes in 2024 (2021 – 687 or 39.4%, 2022 – 287 or 24.9%, 2023 – 1,190 or 19.6%). Indictments were sent to court for 1,592 fraud cases (2021 – 749, 2022 – 277, 2023 – 904). Lawyers emphasize that bringing such cases to court is extremely difficult because individuals willingly transfer their money to the fraudsters.