'Black widow' scam in Russia: Fake brides loot dead soldiers' payouts

Amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, a new kind of scam is spreading in Moscow. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, some women are marrying soldiers who are about to go to the battlefield, not out of love, but to get the huge compensation money that the government pays to families of soldiers who died in war.

Who are 'Russian Black Widows'?

The term 'Black Widows' is being used by people and the media in Russia to refer to women who trick soldiers into quick or fake marriages before the men are sent to the war front. When the soldier dies, these women receive large payments meant for the soldier’s real family.

 

 

According to the report, several court cases in Russia showed that many of these marriages were fake and planned only to take the dead soldiers’ inheritance and government payout. 

 

In one case, a soldier named Sergey Khandozhko married a woman he barely knew, and she later received $200,000 after he died. A court found that the woman had tricked him and annulled the marriage, but she was fined only $37. Courts across Russia are now investigating similar cases to find out which marriages were real and which were scams.

Why are they doing this?

The Russian government gives big rewards to soldiers who fight in Ukraine. According to The Wall Street Journal, families of soldiers who die receive up to $180,000, which is about 20 times the average Russian salary.

 

Because of this, some people, especially from poor regions, see the soldiers’ compensation as a way to make quick money. Scammers and even organised groups have started targeting lonely soldiers, making them sign fake marriage papers before they go to war.

 

Social media platforms like VK (Russia’s version of Facebook) have groups such as “Dates with Soldiers” where some women look for men going to war, hoping to benefit later.

What is the government doing?

Russian lawmakers are now trying to stop this growing problem. They want stricter laws to punish women who enter into fake marriages and take away their right to government benefits.

 

Some proposals also suggest that if a woman marries a soldier after the war began, she shouldn’t automatically get the death payout if they divorce or if the marriage is proven fake.

 

Authorities have also arrested several people running these scams, including gangs who made soldiers marry women just to steal their compensation, The Wall Street Journal reported.