Victim of online fraud, 72, cleared of money laundering
It took a year for a 72-year-old to disentangle himself from the charge of money laundering after falling prey to online fraud in the summer of 2021.
The retired mathematician from Corinth, Haralambos Sassalos, received an e-mail in August 2021, purportedly from his bank, saying his credit card had been temporarily blocked, and that he needed to confirm his details.
“It had the bank logo, it looked authentic,” he said.
He was directed to a clone website of his bank and entered his passwords, but his account was taken over by fraudsters to launder money.
A few days later he tried to see if his pension had been deposited and found his account had been frozen by the Anti-Money Laundering Authority, on suspicion of complicity in money laundering.
The charges were eventually dismissed in September this year as no evidence was found against him, but it took him more than a year to clear his name.
