11 cases of fraud, committed by a 49-year-old man under the pretext of renting an apartment through websites, were investigated by police officers of the Amarousi Security Department.

The 49-year-old was arrested on Wednesday morning in the Amarousi area for fraud and forgery, while 3 of his accomplices were also identified who, at least in one case, assisted the 49-year-old in defrauding his tenants-victims.

In particular, according to ELAS, the 49-year-old man, at least since April 2024, was renting apartments in various areas of Attica through online short-term rental websites.

He then made relevant postings on websites for renting and selling real estate and after contacting prospective tenants-victims by phone, extorted sums of money from them as an advance payment of monthly rent, under the pretext of binding the agreement.

In fact, as pointed out by the Police, in order to convince his victims, he drew up fake residential lease agreements and then cut off communication with them, while in some cases he handed over the keys to the apartments to the victims, which a few days later were noticed by the real owners of the apartments to live in the apartments.

From the preliminary investigation to date, it emerged that the defendant, in 11 cases of fraud that have been resolved, has extracted a total of 59,716 euros from his victims.

It is noted that 2 convictions were pending against the 49-year-old with prison sentences of 8 months and 3 years for continuous fraud.

After a search in the possession of the 49-year-old, the following were found and confiscated:

• notebook with handwritten notes,

• number of lease contract templates,

• the sum of 2,075 euros and

• 3 mobile phones.

The arrested person was taken to the competent Prosecutor while his involvement in other criminal acts is being investigated.