Authorities on Friday said they are investigating five cases of multiple credit card fraud that took place between August 4 and 10.

According to police spokesperson Christos Andreou, perpetrators used the same modus operandi throughout the five separate cases, all of which involved ‘PaySafe’ cards, a prepaid online payment method based on vouchers with a 16-digit PIN code, independent of bank account, credit card, or other personal information.

During the period of time in which the incidents took place, employees of supermarkets or kiosks reported receiving calls from an unknown Greek-speaking individual, posing as the manager of the company associated with the pre-paid cards.

Each time, the caller requested and obtained the 16-digit numbers on the cards, before proceeding to cancel them, thus illegally securing funds from the compromised cards.

According to Andreou, the first reported case involved 29 €100 cards from a kiosk in Limassol, of which 13 were cancelled, while the remainder were redeemed.

On August 7, two more cases were reported, one involving seven €100 cards, and another four €100 cards.

On August 8, another report was lodged by a kiosk in Paphos, involving seven €100 cards.

The most recent case, on August 10, came from an employee working at a supermarket in the Limassol district, involving 39 e-cards worth €50 each, totalling €1,950.

Andreou urged the public and particularly owners of kiosks, supermarkets, and other stores where ‘PaySafe’ cards are sold to watch out for these types of scams, advising them to be extremely cautious and not issue cards via phone.

He added that under no circumstances should they provide details related to these cards.

“If any such offenses are detected or similar calls are received, the police should be immediately informed,” Andreou said.