Fraud of €4.7 million against 88-year-old woman in Thessaloniki: 4,700 gold sovereigns stolen
Fraudsters kept an 88-year-old woman on the telephone for 4 hours and stole 4,700 gold sovereigns weighing 38 kilograms in Thessaloniki.
Four-hour telephone fraud targeting 88-year-old woman in Thessaloniki — haul worth €4.7 million
Over 4,700 gold sovereigns with a total weight of 38 kilograms were taken by unknown perpetrators from an apartment of an 88-year-old woman in the centre of Thessaloniki, in one of the largest telephone frauds recorded in Greece. The total value of the haul exceeds €4.5 million, according to Ethnos.
Details of the case were provided by ELAS press spokesperson Konstantia Dimoglidu, speaking to Mega. The perpetrators kept the elderly woman on her telephone line for approximately four hours, impersonating employees of DEI (Public Power Corporation). They told her she was at risk of electrocution and asked her to follow specific instructions.
According to Ms Dimoglidu, the fraudsters led the 88-year-old to place the bags with the gold sovereigns near the outer door of her apartment. Subsequently, they asked her to lock herself in a room. In this way, the perpetrators entered the house unimpeded, collected the bags and escaped on foot from a central point of the city.
"Unfortunately the report reached us 24 hours later and this played a significant role. This is one of the largest amounts that have been stolen in frauds of this type," said Ms Dimoglidu.
The delay in reporting the incident significantly hindered the investigation. The authorities are seeking video footage from the area to identify the movements of the perpetrators. "You can understand how important it would have been for us to be on site following the incident at the location," added the ELAS press spokesperson.
Source: Ethnos