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Another person swindled in fake medical emergency scam

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Police are advising the public to be aware of swindlers who, pretending to be doctors, contact people and demand money in exchange for services.

In a statement, the police said their advisory comes in the wake of the latest such case reported to authorities on Thursday. This was the third such incident so far this year.

It referred to the case of a 69-year-old woman from Nicosia who fell prey to the scam.

At around 10am the woman got a call on her house landline from a man claiming to be an orthopaedic surgeon at the general hospital. The caller told the woman that a relative of hers needed to be operated on urgently following an accident, and that she had to pay money for this.

Believing the caller’s story, the 69-year-old drew €7,000 from her bank account. Following the instructions the man gave her on the phone, she then went to an agreed meeting place in Nicosia and handed over the cash to a woman.

According to the scam victim’s description, the woman to whom she handed the money was of moderate build, with jet black hair, and around 40 years of age.

“The modus operandi of the perpetrators in this case is not unfamiliar,” the police said of the incident.

“The perpetrators call people, usually the elderly, and falsely claim that some relative of theirs has an emergency and needs to be operated on. They then ask the prospective victim to pay a large amount of money.”

Police warned people to be wary of such scams, and that if someone receives a suspicious phone call they should immediately report it to their nearest police station or contact the Citizens hotline by dialing 1460.

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