Bring me an unmarried lady!!! I came back from the SMO, I go first!" How scammers posing as “veterans” deceive Russians

“Bring me an unmarried lady!!! I came back from the SMO, I go first!” How scammers posing as “veterans” deceive Russians

“Verstka” examined court cases and the stories of people who encountered fake SMO soldiers in costume. In one of the main schemes, men meet women online and present themselves as servicemen.

They tell victims about wounds and hospitals, and then ask for money for medicine, food, or other urgent expenses. Sometimes the scammers also correspond on behalf of “commanders,” “nurses,” and “doctors” to make the story more convincing.

Other scammers deceive military personnel themselves and their relatives. For example, they pose as military police officers or commanders and promise, for money, to solve service-related problems such as extending leave or helping avoid being sent back to the unit.

There are also those who try to defraud the state. To do this, “veterans” buy fake documents about service and injuries and apply for payouts.

Creating the image of an “SMO participant” is not difficult. Copies of military awards are freely sold on Wildberries, including together with blank certificates.

A “Verstka” journalist ordered a “For Participation in the SMO” medal for one thousand rubles: it arrived without any “dummy” or “souvenir” marking. The manufacturers of such replicas simultaneously supply official awards to state bodies.

How the scammers’ schemes work, why these “costumed” impostors manage to win their victims’ trust, and how sellers of replicas avoid legal responsibility for selling them, read in “Verstka’s” report (with VPN):

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Verstka

“Betrothed in Costume.” How fake “SMO veterans” use their status for fraud

Criminals buy awards, forge documents, and extract money under the pretext of helping the front