16 cases of fraud committed in various regions of Greece in the first quarter of 2022 were investigated.

After a relevant investigation by the Serres Security sub-directorate, eight men and one woman were arrested, who together with unknown accomplices had recommended/joined a criminal organization, with the aim of systematically deceiving unsuspecting citizens and extracting money from their bank accounts.

Those arrested called companies, businesses or natural persons pretending to be the accountant or the prospective buyer/client and with various tricks extracted the details of their electronic bank accounts (username, login code, OTPs codes). Then, they transferred sums of money to the bank accounts of people they had “recruited” for a monetary reward. In total, they managed to extort the sum of 305,789 euros from the victims.

As announced by the Police Authorities, the total of 16 cases of fraud took place from January to March 2022, in various regions of Greece, namely:

* 7 in Attica,

* 3 in Thessaloniki and

* one each in Grevena, Evros, Evia, Kefalonia, Florina and Chania.

The file that was created was submitted to the public prosecutor of Serres. The file also includes 15 people, beneficiaries of bank accounts, whose details have been identified. The investigation of the police continues both for the identification of the unknown members of the organization, and for their possible participation in other similar criminal acts.