Svitlana Ishchenko

1. First contact on a dating site

The victim meets a woman on a Scandinavian dating site. In her profile she uses the name “Sveta, 27”, lists her location as Kyiv, Ukraine, presents herself as single without children, non-smoker, healthy lifestyle and “ready for a long-term relationship”. Her profile slogan says “Im real, and you?”, which is typical for profiles used in online dating scams in Ukraine.

2. War refugee story from Melitopol to Lviv

In private messages she tells a dramatic story. She claims to be originally from Melitopol, to have worked in a bank and to have fled the occupied city to Lviv just a week ago. She says her mother stayed in Melitopol and that she herself now lives with an aunt in Lviv as an internally displaced person. She constantly describes shelling, panic in the city and how “life in Melitopol is simply impossible”.

3. Fake Ukrainian passport as “proof”

To gain trust she sends a photo of a Ukrainian international passport issued in the name “Svitlana Ishchenko” with place of birth Melitopol. After professional document analysis this passport turned out to be fake. Despite that, she uses it together with selfies and screenshots of her dating profile to prove that she is “real” and that her refugee story is true.

4. Moving to Telegram and building emotional dependence

Very quickly she pushes the communication from the dating platform to Telegram. Her profile is saved there under the name “Svitlana” with username @IshchenkoSssi and a series of short voice messages. In these audios she repeats how hard and dangerous life is, how she is exhausted but still goes to work and how much she dreams about starting a new life abroad with a trustworthy man.

5. Money requests and full bank card details

Once emotional attachment is established, the conversation shifts to money. She stresses that she understands it is “not easy” for the man, but insists she is ready to provide “all the information you asked for” and that she is running out of patience. Then she sends the full number of her Ukrainian bank card, its validity date and a Ukrainian phone number, clearly expecting direct transfers. This is a classic escalation step in a romance scam and a strong red flag according to our online fraud prevention practice.

6. Key red flags in this case

The main warning signs include: contradiction between the profile data (Kyiv) and her story about fleeing from Melitopol to Lviv, extremely fast transition from romance to money talk, detailed but unverifiable war narrative, the use of a fake Ukrainian passport as “proof”, heavy emotional pressure and the direct sending of full bank card details for alleged support.

7. How to protect yourself

Before sending any money to a woman from Ukraine you met online, it is essential to use an independent verification of Ukrainian women from dating sites. A proper check confirms whether the documents are genuine, if the person really lives where she claims and whether her story is consistent with official records.

8. Identified person and additional services

In this case we have identified the real person behind the fake profile and the forged Ukrainian passport. For an additional fee we can provide her full verified data (full legal name, date of birth, registration address, phone number, social media accounts, email and other confirmed information). If you are dealing with a similar situation, contact us through our Ukrainian woman verification service before you lose money.