Three residents were arrested by the Heraklion Sub-Division of Crime Investigation and Detection for involvement in eight cases of telephone fraud – three completed and five attempted – committed in the wider Heraklion area on the weekend of July 28-29.

According to the findings of the preliminary investigation, the perpetrators communicated by phone with unsuspecting elderly people pretending to be accountants and claiming that their interlocutors were entitled to a subsidy. Taking advantage of time pressure and confusion, they persuaded them to deliver money or jewelry at predetermined points to “pass” the alleged procedure.

According to the ELAS, using this method, they managed to defraud three citizens, extracting a total of 16,600 euros as well as jewelry worth 22,000 euros.

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Detection and arrests

Officers were able to identify the vehicle used by the offenders for transportation. After targeted searches, the vehicle was located in the afternoon of July 29 and immobilized. Inside the vehicle were three residents, aged 35, 29 and 28, who were arrested on the spot.

During the search of the vehicle, their home and an outdoor stash area, officers located and seized:

– the sum of 10,790 euros,

– a number of jewellery items,

– three mobile telephones.

The money and jewelry were returned to their rightful owners. The preliminary investigation continues by the Subdirectorate for Investigation and Detection of Crimes of Heraklion, which is examining the possible involvement of the arrested in other similar cases.