Man duped out of €55,000 in online scam

Limassol police said on Monday they were investigating a case in which a Cypriot had transferred over €55,000 to a woman abroad who had promised to come to the island if he helped her with a relative who was supposedly ill.

The 58-year-old man told police that between 2020 and 2021 he had transferred €55,450 to a woman in the Ukraine he had met through a phone application.

The woman had told the man that she needed money to help a relative who had health problems, convincing him to send cash.

The man said he made 14 bank transfers, but the woman never came to Cyprus, as she had promised.

He eventually realised he had fallen victim to a scam and decided to report the case to police.