Woman, 73, detained for touting bogus civil service jobs

Police in Athens on Monday were questioning a 73-year-old Greek woman alleged to have defrauded several people out of large sums by claiming that she could appoint them to jobs in the public sector.

The 73-year-old was arrested in the neighborhood of Petralona after police received a tipoff about the woman's alleged activities.

According to investigators, the woman would contact her potential victims by telephone and request a fee of 170 euros for securing their appointment to a public sector job.

Undercover officers accompanied a potential victim to a meeting in Petralona and arrested the woman after she pocketed the 170 euros in pre-marked bills.

The woman is alleged to have been running her scam since May last year, and is believed to have raised more than 5,000 euros from 28 victims.

She was to face a prosecutor on fraud charges later on Monday.