Gang running scam targeting elderly netted
The Greek Police on Tuesday said that it has arrested 15 suspects and identified another 14 in a large-scale scam targeting elderly people by reporting fake car accidents.
According to the report, the suspects would gather information on potential targets and call them posing as hospital doctors, lawyers or policemen to “inform” them that a relative, usually a child, had caused a fatal traffic accident. They would tell their targets to pay an unspecified amount of money over to a member of the gang so that no charges would be brought against the alleged perpetrator.
Police said the gang members would pressure their victims into make the payments at once, so as to avoid the possibility they would try to corroborate the story.
Twelve Bulgarians and three Greeks have already been arrested in connection with the scam, while arrest warrants have been issued for another 14 Bulgarian nationals.
Following the arrests, the Greek Police advised citizens to inform their elderly relatives of the activities of such gangs and to instruct them to alert the authorities or their families of any suspicious demands for money by strangers.
It also urged citizens who have been approached by suspicious individuals to take note of their telephone numbers, names and physical characteristics.
