A con artist is posing as a police officer and attempting to extort money from citizens, and the police are warning the public to be especially cautious.
According to Kyriakos Theodorou, the Communications Officer for the Police Press Office, who spoke on the Alpha Kalimera program, by using various pretexts—including the alleged payment or settlement of out-of-court fines—managed to gain the complainants’ trust and swindle money from them.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
As part of the investigation into these cases, testimony was obtained against a 44-year-old man, whose details and photograph have been released to the public.
See HERE the photograph and details of the suspect.
“In all cases, he was wearing a T-shirt with a police logo. Out-of-court fines issued by the police can only be paid electronically, specifically through the government portal, and no police officer will ask a citizen to pay a large sum for them. In all cases, it appears that the victims were primarily elderly individuals. In one case, the amount was 50 euros; in another, 10 euros. The two cases occurred in Kalo Chorio, Larnaca, and the other two cases took place in Nicosia.”
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In a related announcement, the Kalo Chorio Larnaca Community Council urges caution, noting that there has been “an incident of fraud in which an unknown individual pretended to be a police officer in order to extort money from elderly people.” It also urges residents to be especially careful.
“Do not give money or personal information to strangers, and if you notice anything suspicious, contact the police immediately. Please inform your elderly relatives and neighbors so that we can all work together to protect our people.”
