Man and two teens arrested over catfishing with 13-year-old bait
A 41-year-old man and two teenage boys aged 17 were arrested in the northern Athens suburb of Agia Paraskevi after getting into an altercation over sexually explicit content shared on a fake social media account purportedly belonging to a 13-year-old girl.
In a press release on Tuesday, the police (ELAS) said the teenage boys appear to have created the fake account, which included photographs of a sexual nature, to lure potential extortion victims, a process colloquially known as “catfishing.”
After an exchange of messages and explicit photographs with the 41-year-old, who showed an interest in the profile, a meeting was set up between the older man and what he believed to be a young teenage girl.
He was, instead, met at Agia Paraskevi’s main square by the two 17-year-olds, who allegedly demanded money not to report the incident to the police. An altercation followed, which led to the arrest of all three suspects.
The 17-year-olds are being charged for publishing images of a minor without her consent and with extortion, while the 41-year-old faces charges of attempting to lure minors for sexual purposes. His phone has been seized for further investigation.
The arrests took place on Saturday afternoon.
