Fake police officers scam: new telephone deception tactic targeting citizens
Fraudsters impersonate police officers in second telephone contact to extract money. The Hellenic Police assure that no authority ever requests money transfers.
Fake police officers on the phone: the new telephone fraud method
Dikastiko.gr is reporting a warning from the Hellenic Police about a new variant of telephone fraud: when victims are not convinced in the first deception attempt, the perpetrators return posing as police officers requesting the citizen's cooperation to "trap" alleged criminals.
"This is a new tactic that we are seeing fraudsters following when they fail to convince the victims in the initial attempt," said Hellenic Police spokesperson Konstantina Dimoglidi to MEGA. "Then they return and impersonate police officers, who are essentially asking the victims for help in order to trap the criminals."
Dimoglidi emphasised clearly that no public official, no public authority, and no police officer will ever ask a citizen to transfer or hand over money or jewellery. "Even if something like this were to happen, the police are informed by the citizen themselves when they realise that something strange is occurring and they call the police," she added.
The Hellenic Police spokesperson also mentioned that the authorities have already identified and arrested several fraudsters using similar methods, whilst highlighting the limits of intervention capability: "In no case do we have the ability to know the moment a fraudster is making a call to a citizen and to intervene if someone does not inform us."
The role of emotion in deception
Police officer First Class Charalambos Charalambidis highlighted the psychological mechanism that the perpetrators exploit. "Fraudsters bet more on emotion," he said. "They create a feeling of fear in you, so you stop thinking clearly and you follow their instructions."
Creating panic is a central element of the method: the victim is under pressure, unable to judge calmly, and carries out what is asked of them before realising the fraud.
Artificial intelligence and phishing in the service of fraudsters
The Hellenic Police emphasise that the perpetrators are making increasingly use of sophisticated technological tools. In several cases, artificial intelligence (AI) is used to create synthetic voices of family members, who are supposedly in danger.
At the same time, fraudsters compromise accounts in messaging applications (chat apps) through malicious links (phishing), so that they can then send money requests to the victim's contacts. The phenomenon is often organised by international networks with call centres in many countries.
Recommendations from the authorities
The authorities issue clear guidelines to citizens to avoid deception:
- Never follow links received via messages.
- Never disclose banking codes to anyone, regardless of who the caller claims to be.
- Never keep large sums of money or jewellery in their homes.
- If they receive a suspicious call, contact the police immediately.
Source: Dikastiko.gr