Cyprus police phone scam costs woman €784

A 37-year-old woman has lost €784 in a Cyprus police phone scam after a caller posing as a police officer convinced her to provide her bank details to pay a non-existent fine.

According to a complaint filed with Paphos CID, the woman received a telephone call today from an unknown individual who spoke in English and claimed to be a police officer.

The caller told her that she had an outstanding fine that needed to be paid. Instead of a telephone number or caller’s name, the woman’s phone displayed the fake identifier “[email protected]”.

Believing the caller’s claims, the 37-year-old provided her bank account details to arrange payment of the supposed fine.

She subsequently discovered that €784 had been deducted from her account and realised she had been defrauded.

The case is being investigated by the Financial Crime Investigation Office of Paphos CID.

Police warn public against fraudulent calls

Following the latest Cyprus police phone scam, authorities have renewed their warning to the public about fraudsters impersonating officers and demanding payments over the telephone.

Police stressed that they never contact members of the public in this manner or ask them to disclose personal information or banking details to make payments.

Members of the public are urged to exercise particular caution when receiving suspicious calls from unknown individuals and to avoid following their instructions or sharing sensitive information.

Police also advised anyone wishing to verify the authenticity of a telephone call to contact the organisation concerned directly through its publicly available official communication channels.

Also read: Holguin in Cyprus: Meeting with Christodoulides and Erhürman in focus
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