Russians in Portugal use phishing tactics to glean personal data of Ukrainians

The Union of Ukrainians in Portugal (UUP) has filed a complaint with the country’s National Commission for Data Protection after hundreds of immigrants in Portugal received phone calls in Russian, demanding their banking information. 

Over the past two months, many Ukrainians living in Portugal with local cell phone numbers have been receiving calls from various mobile and landline numbers within the country. The callers, speaking in Russian, attempt to collect personal information. 

“The callers are aware of the phone number owner’s name and claim to be inspectors from the Portuguese Judicial Police, but continue to speak in Russian,” said Pavlo Sadokha, UWC Vice-President and UUP President.

These calls request to extract sensitive banking information. 

“Many people have contacted us [UUP] to ask who is behind these calls, and I am aware of those who have already reported the issue to the police,” Sadokha said in an interview with Portuguese news portal Lusa.

The victims of these calls share Ukrainian nationality or origin, including Ukrainian immigrants and some Russians who oppose the Vladimir Putin regime in Moscow.

The UUP suspects that sensitive data, such as mobile numbers, names, and last names, may have been stolen. The organization is gathering complaints and phone numbers to hand over to Portuguese authorities for further investigation.

“This is the first time such an incident has occurred, but we suspect it could be a fraud attempt,” Sadokha added.