A dangerous fraud scheme is gaining momentum in Ukraine: criminals offer citizens to buy driver's licenses online. Buyers receive beautiful plastic cards, but in reality, these documents are forgeries. They are not entered into state registries, do not appear in the «Diiia» app or the Driver's Cabinet, and their use entails serious legal consequences.

Employees of the Main Service Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) note that people regularly turn to them asking to legalize such "licenses." Citizens try to enter information about the documents into the database or update their status, but face rejection. During verification, service center administrators often find that the documents have no legal force.

Criminal liability and loss of data

If the use of a forged license is detected during verification, service center employees are obliged to notify the National Police. This leads to the initiation of a case and the investigation of all circumstances of the crime.

MIA specialists warn: buying such documents is not only a loss of money but also a risk of becoming a defendant in a criminal case for the manufacture or use of forged documents. Moreover, scammers often require buyers to provide personal data, which can subsequently be used for other criminal schemes.

How to protect yourself: rules for publishing on social media

The Cyber Police and experts from the Main Service Center of the MIA have given important advice: never post photos of your driver's license in the public domain without prior processing. Scammers actively monitor social networks in search of such photos.

If you want to brag about getting your first license, be sure to hide or blur the following data before publishing:

  • Document series and number;
  • Date of birth;
  • Registration address;
  • Owner's signature.

This data can become the key to identity theft or the creation of forged documents in your name.

Checking the validity of licenses online

To verify the legitimacy of your driver's license, you can use the official online service of the Main Service Center of the MIA. To check, simply enter the series and number of the document.

The system will instantly show:

  • Date of issue of the license;
  • Open categories of vehicles;
  • Current status: valid, invalid, or annulled.

It is important to remember: licenses issued before 2013 are not present in modern electronic registries. This is why they do not appear in the «Diiia» app and the Driver's Cabinet. To have the document appear in the system, it must be exchanged at any MIA service center — in this case, retaking exams is not required.

The only legal way to get a license

The MIA emphasizes: in Ukraine, there is only one legal way to obtain a driver's license. It includes mandatory training at a driving school, passing theoretical and practical exams, and then personally receiving the document at an MIA service center.

Only after completing this procedure is information about training and exam results entered into the state electronic registry. This guarantees that your license will be displayed in «Diiia» and the Driver's Cabinet.

Do not trust advertisements promising to arrange licenses "online," "without personal presence," "without training," or "without passing exams." Such offers are a sign of fraud. If you detect suspicious websites or content, you can report this to the Cyber Police via an electronic appeal.

New rules for issuing licenses

Recall that the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has updated the rules for issuing driver's licenses. Now, for motorcycle and passenger car drivers, new licenses will be valid for 15 years, and for truck and passenger transport drivers — for 5 years. All previously issued licenses remain valid until the expiration date indicated in them.