Police are investigating a new case of fraud involving phone calls demanding payment of alleged out-of-court fines.
According to a complaint filed with the Paphos Criminal Investigation Department by a 37-year-old woman, she received a phone call today from an unknown person who, speaking in English, claimed to be a police officer and told her that she had an unpaid fine. The 37-year-old’s phone screen displayed the fake name “[email protected]” instead of the phone number or name of the person calling her.
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The 37-year-old was convinced by the suspect’s claims and provided him with her bank account information to settle the payment of the alleged fine. Subsequently, the 37-year-old discovered that her account had been debited 784 euros, at which point she realized she had been defrauded.
The case is being investigated by the Financial Crime Investigation Office of the Paphos CID.
In light of this new case of fraud and money theft, the Police are once again reminding the public that they never contact citizens in this manner, nor do they ask citizens to disclose their personal or banking information for any payment.
The public is urged to be particularly cautious when receiving such phone calls from unknown individuals. As a precaution, the public is advised to avoid following the instructions of suspicious individuals and never to disclose personal or banking information.
Finally, to verify any phone calls they receive, citizens are urged to contact the relevant organizations through their official communication channels.
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