{"id":61761,"date":"2026-11-03T18:40:47","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T15:40:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infolight.ua\/?p=61761"},"modified":"2026-11-03T18:40:47","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T15:40:47","slug":"guaranteed-release-for-cash-ukraine-warns-families-of-pows-about-scammers-after-prisoner-swaps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infolight.ua\/en\/2026\/11\/03\/guaranteed-release-for-cash-ukraine-warns-families-of-pows-about-scammers-after-prisoner-swaps\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Guaranteed release\u2019 for cash: Ukraine warns families of POWs about scammers after prisoner swaps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Every prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia brings a new wave of scammers targeting families who are still waiting for their loved ones. They promise to speed up a release, reveal the date of the next swap or \u201cguarantee\u201d someone\u2019s return \u2014 and ask for money in return.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The warning comes from Ukraine\u2019s <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/koordshtab.gov.ua\/\">Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War<\/a><\/strong>, the state body that handles the identification and return of Ukrainians held by Russia. It followed the exchange of <strong>23 October 2026<\/strong>, when <strong>270 Ukrainians<\/strong> \u2014 261 service members and nine civilians \u2014 came home from Russian captivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How the scam works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fraudsters call, text through messaging apps or write on social media. They pose as intermediaries or as people supposedly involved in the negotiations, counting on the fact that families are desperate and ready to believe any hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No intermediaries, \u201cinfluential acquaintances\u201d or third parties have the authority to influence the release and return of Ukrainians from Russian captivity. Any promise of such a return for money is a sign of fraud.<\/p>\n<cite>\u2014 Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The tactics change, but the goal stays the same. The headquarters has previously warned about fake \u201cdatabase extracts\u201d and \u201cofficial bank accounts\u201d offered to put a name on an exchange list, as <a href=\"https:\/\/news.liga.net\/ua\/politics\/news\/rodychiv-viiskovopolonenykh-poperedyly-pro-novu-skhemu-vymaniuvannia-koshtiv\">LIGA.net<\/a> reported, and about fake social media profiles of \u201cfreed soldiers\u201d offering news of relatives in captivity, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/hromadske.ua\/posts\/shahrayi-vikoristovuyut-ostannij-obmin-polonenimi-dlya-nazhivi-koordshtab\">hromadske<\/a>. Money is not the only risk: the headquarters has stressed that information handed to scammers may end up with the enemy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How families are really informed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Relatives learn about a release only after the person\u2019s identity has been verified, through a personal message from official representatives of the headquarters. All its consultations, as well as legal and psychological support, are <strong>free of charge<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What to do if you are contacted<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Do not pay<\/strong> and do not share personal data, card numbers or details about your relatives.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Save<\/strong> the phone number, account or message.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Report it<\/strong> to the police and to the Coordination Headquarters hotline: <strong>0 800 300 529<\/strong> (free within Ukraine).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Photo: Ukrainians returning home from Russian captivity during the prisoner exchange of 23 May 2025. <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Exchange_of_prisoners_event_with_people_welcoming_them_home_in_Ukraine_on_23_May_2025_-_14.jpg\">Office of the President of Ukraine \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/\">CC0<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fraudsters posing as go-betweens promise to bring Ukrainian prisoners home from Russia for a fee. Ukraine\u2019s Coordination Headquarters says no intermediary can do that, and its own help is free.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":61758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":1690,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1690,1292],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-neus","category-ukraine"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/infolight.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/obmin-polonenymy-23-travnia-2025.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/infolight.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/infolight.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/infolight.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infolight.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infolight.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61761"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/infolight.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61763,"href":"https:\/\/infolight.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61761\/revisions\/61763"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infolight.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/infolight.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infolight.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infolight.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}