How scammers deceive soldiers’ wives, and “black widows” take death benefits — watch TV Rain’s report

How scammers deceive soldiers’ wives, and “black widows” take death benefits — watch TV Rain’s report “Hunting for Death Benefits” on YouTube

Russia’s war against Ukraine has turned into a battle for money. And this battle is now being fought not only at the front, but also in the rear. Relatives divide the “death benefits” of fallen soldiers, “black widows” profit from men’s deaths, and scammers deceive desperate mothers and wives searching for the missing.

TV Rain journalist Ekaterina Fomina conducted a social experiment: she generated a photograph of a nonexistent Russian soldier based on pictures of real soldiers missing at the front, and posted a call for help in themed chats. Within 15 minutes, her fictional husband had already been “found” in captivity. Scammers offered to arrange a call, asked her to download an infected file, guaranteed connections with “generals,” help with the search, and even inclusion in exchange lists.

TV Rain’s new report “Hunting for Death Benefits” is about how the war created an entire economy around the grief of soldiers’ relatives.

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