The Center for Financial Integrity continues to advance its educational mission across various cities in Ukraine. This time, we visited Ternopil, where on 18 March, at the West Ukrainian National University (WUNU), we held an educational event titled “Financial Security During Wartime: New Risks and Protection Tools”.

Serious threats that undermine the integrity of Ukraine’s financial system include the activities of money mules and fraudulent call centres. Oksana Ihnatenko identified these threats and helped participants understand how such schemes operate and how to protect themselves. Equally important is an understanding of the specifics of these schemes — why they remain prevalent and why they are difficult to eradicate.

Oleksandra Vasylchishyn, a lawyer and Professor at the Department of Security and Law Enforcement at WUNU, helped classify financial crimes in accordance with Ukrainian legislation and developed an action framework for identifying such offences. Together with participants, practical challenges in countering these crimes were also discussed.

In a world where financial crimes are becoming increasingly technological, harder to trace, and more latent, there is a growing need to implement new and effective countermeasures. Educational initiatives for different groups of the population play a key role in raising awareness and reducing the number of fraud victims.