"Bell" from the Police for the attempts to deceive citizens

The General Regional Police Directorate of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, on the occasion of incidents of defrauding citizens that have recently been reported in its areas of jurisdiction, deems it appropriate to publish the following useful tips to avoid similar incidents:

Do not be convinced when strangers ask you to pay money for debts of acquaintances or relatives in public services or in shops-companies for the purchase of goods-offering services.

It is pointed out that hospitals or public services do not use the practice of their employees going to homes or public places and asking citizens to pay money for services they provide.

Be especially wary when strangers try to convince you to pay money, under the pretext of an urgent need of a relative or friend (eg hospitalization). In these cases, you should always seek to contact your acquaintance-relative by phone yourself, to confirm what they are referring to.

The communication should be done with your own phone and on your own initiative and you should not accept to speak with a person who was called by strangers. For the same reasons do not give in to invitations to meet (appointment, etc.) and in any case, state that you are not going to hand over money if your acquaintances-relatives do not show up.

Do not under any circumstances accept unknown persons to lead you to a Credit Shop or ATM to withdraw a sum of money.

Be especially wary of messages (emails, SMS) that are supposed to be sent from banking branches and that usually induce citizens to follow a link (link) found in the same email or SMS that leads to a fake website that resembles those of the banks. They then request the entry of personal information, bank card numbers and bank account codes (username and password), which the perpetrators intercept as soon as these are filled in by citizens. In this way, the perpetrators gain access to citizens' bank accounts and immediately withdraw sums of money.

Do not be convinced when strangers ask you for your bank card details and bank account codes (username and password) used in online banking websites/applications in order to pay you or you pay them money for the purchase of goods or the provision of services.

Try to retain the characteristics of the perpetrators, as well as the vehicles they drive (registration number, vehicle make, color, etc.), to help law enforcement.

Always inform the police authorities, even in the event of an attempted fraud against you.