Internally displaced persons in Ukraine began to receive SMS from WFP Ukraine to receive 2,200 hryvnias of UN assistance. Many have not applied for payments and therefore do not understand: is this a new type of fraud or not? Read in the material TSN.ua what is known about these SMS messages and financial assistance.
From mid-May 2022, payments began for people with IDP (internally displaced person) status. They are carried out within the framework of the World Food Program from the UN, and the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine acts as the coordinator. Payments can be received through the international money transfer system in PrivatBank. And the amount of financial assistance is 2200 hryvnia per person or up to 6600 hryvnia per family.
However, questions about SMS from WFP Ukraine began to appear on the Web, which come even to those internally displaced persons who have not submitted any applications for receiving payments from the UN. People are confused by one thing: is it a scam or not?
SMS messages look like this:
SMS message from WFP Ukraine / Photo: TSN.ua
Some of the IDPs still tried to get the money to make sure they weren’t scammers. As they answer in chats to those who ask a question about the reality of receiving 2200 hryvnias, the funds are really paid out. It turned out that when filling out an application for obtaining the status of an internally displaced person in the TsNAP, at the end of the document, citizens of Ukraine put a checkmark in front of the item “I give consent” to the transfer of information about personal data to the UN agency and the International Committee of the Red Cross for assistance.
Sample application for IDP status / Photo: TSN.ua
Therefore, internally displaced persons who did not submit a separate application for financial assistance, but were registered as IDPs at the TsNAP, began to receive massive SMS messages from WFP Ukraine with a transfer number for Western Union.
To receive a transfer of funds, you need to enter the code received in an SMS message, in the Privat24 mobile or web application, in a self-service terminal, at an ATM, inform at a bank branch or call the customer support number 3700 (also in the online support chat).
Remember how to distinguish between fraudulent and real SMS messages:
- Banks and government agencies that send SMS messages do not ask Ukrainian citizens to fill out a survey, make a payment, or provide personal data in exchange for funds.
- Aid scams often contain links to a bank. If a person clicks on them, scammers get his data. Therefore, do not under any circumstances do this.
- If you are not sure that you received an SMS message about real cash aid payments, call the bank to find out all the information.
