Public warned for the ‘umpteenth time’ after three more scam complaints filed with police

Police on Sunday warned the pubic for the “umpteenth time” to be more careful online after three new scam complaints were filed, bringing the total so far this month to around ten that have been filed with the authorities.

According police, the latest complaint was made by a woman in Limassol who said that between July 1 and August 10 she was defrauded over the internet to the tune of 10,500 euros.

The woman in her complaint said that she was contacted by an unknown man through a social networking platform who informed her that he worked for an investment company and convinced her to invest in his company’s platform with a guaranteed profit.

Subsequently, the complainant gave the man access to her online information after which on three different occasions when she went to transfer money to relatives abroad, it was diverted to another account through some kind of app that the perpetrator had installed remotely on her PC.

In another case, a 54-year-old resident of Limassol was duped into paying a total sum of US$5,500 for a supposed investment that promised profits on an online platform.

In a third case in Paphos a 79-year-old resident told police on Saturday that after a phone call from an unknown person that there were suspicious transactions spotted in his bank account, gave access to the caller as a result of which the unknown person stole 19,770 euros from the account.

“Therefore, the public is urged for the umpteenth time to be very careful in their transactions and not to trust strangers,” police said.