Phone scam gets thousands of Euros out of pensioners
phone scam
26 Mar 2021
/ 13:43
CORFU. The scammers pretended they were from the bank and managed to get sums of €9,850 and €4,000.
There have been two incidents of phone scams which cheated unsuspecting members of the public out of large amounts of money.
According to the Ionian Islands Police, who are investigating incidents that took place on 23 and 24 March, the scammers phoned two seniors in Corfu pretending to be bank employees.
They managed to persuade the victims to pay €9,850 and €4,000, claiming it was for taxes owed.
To avoid these types of scams, the Regional Police has issued the following advice:
- Don't be taken in by strangers who claim to be bank or public service officials asking for money, especially when they promise that money will be returned to you.
- Don't be taken in by strangers who ask you to pay money for debts of relatives or people known to you to public services or businesses.
- Don't be taken in by strangers who claim to be from a public service or other organisation and say they want to fix a technical problem unless you yourself had called them.
- If an unknown person tells you that there is an emergency with a relative or person known to you, always try to call the person in question for confirmation.
- Always phone directly from your own phone and refuse to talk to someone who was called by the strangers.
- Use proper bank applications, having ensured that you know how to use them correctly.
- Always take the precaution of calling your bank to confirm any transaction that unknown persons have asked you to carry out.
- Always have emergency numbers handy - police, fire department, hospital, close family etc.
- Always inform the police if there have any attempts to con you.
- Inform friends, relatives - especially the elderly - so that they also don't fall victim to scams.
For further information and advice go to the official police website www.hellenicpolice.gr and visit the section Advice for Citizens.
According to the Ionian Islands Police, who are investigating incidents that took place on 23 and 24 March, the scammers phoned two seniors in Corfu pretending to be bank employees.
They managed to persuade the victims to pay €9,850 and €4,000, claiming it was for taxes owed.
To avoid these types of scams, the Regional Police has issued the following advice:
- Don't be taken in by strangers who claim to be bank or public service officials asking for money, especially when they promise that money will be returned to you.
- Don't be taken in by strangers who ask you to pay money for debts of relatives or people known to you to public services or businesses.
- Don't be taken in by strangers who claim to be from a public service or other organisation and say they want to fix a technical problem unless you yourself had called them.
- If an unknown person tells you that there is an emergency with a relative or person known to you, always try to call the person in question for confirmation.
- Always phone directly from your own phone and refuse to talk to someone who was called by the strangers.
- Use proper bank applications, having ensured that you know how to use them correctly.
- Always take the precaution of calling your bank to confirm any transaction that unknown persons have asked you to carry out.
- Always have emergency numbers handy - police, fire department, hospital, close family etc.
- Always inform the police if there have any attempts to con you.
- Inform friends, relatives - especially the elderly - so that they also don't fall victim to scams.
For further information and advice go to the official police website www.hellenicpolice.gr and visit the section Advice for Citizens.
