Lviv region, Ukraine: prosecutors say a dating-scam call centre used a neural network to turn male voices female in real time; at least 80 victims

The scheme. According to the Lviv regional prosecutor's office, as relayed by Lvivskyi Portal and Glavnoe, the group created fake women's accounts on dating services and in messengers. For persuasiveness it used software with a neural network that changed a male voice to a female one in real time. DW, citing the SBU and the Office of the Prosecutor General, gives the same account: to make the conversations more convincing, the suspects used a special neural network that changes a male voice to a female one in real time.

The theft. Having gained the men's trust, the group sent a file disguised as photographs that contained malware; when the victim said the pictures would not open, the victim was persuaded to share the phone screen and change settings, and the group recorded unlock codes and online-banking access. The National Police add that the file carried a remote-access tool that let the group control the phone, bypass two-factor authentication and empty accounts, converting the money into cryptocurrency.

The victims and the case. On preliminary data, prosecutors say at least 50 Ukrainian citizens and 30 foreigners, including people in Poland, Germany and Georgia, were victims. SBU officers detained the three main organisers at the call centre's premises. They were notified of suspicion, including under a new article on fraudulent call centres that came into force in September 2026, and remanded in custody with bail. The statements give no individual loss amounts and do not say how many victims spoke with the altered voice.

Prosecutors say money was taken from the bank accounts of at least 80 people (50 Ukrainian citizens and 30 foreigners) after malware gave the group control of their phones; no amounts per victim are given.

Fraudsters posing as women on dating services spoke with contacts through software that, according to prosecutors, used a neural network to turn a male voice female in real time; having gained trust, they persuaded the contacts to open malware disguised as photographs and to share their screens, then took over their banking apps and moved their money.

Three men were notified of suspicion of fraud, creating or taking part in an electronic-communication fraud group (the new article 255-4) and unauthorised interference with information systems, and were remanded in custody with bail set; nine searches were carried out and phones, computers, bank cards and cash were seized; investigators were still identifying other participants and victims (Lviv regional prosecutor's office, SBU and National Police statements as relayed on 14 October 2026).