Police in Thessaloniki arrested three suspects who had posed as power company technicians and swindled a 70-year-old woman in the Panorama area out of valuables worth around €500,000, authorities said.
According to state broadcaster ERT, the woman lost a lifetime of savings after receiving a phone call on Christmas Eve from a man who claimed to be an employee of an electricity company. The caller warned of a serious power leak in her home and instructed her, for safety reasons, to remove jewellery, cash and gold coins so they would not be damaged.
Following his instructions, the woman placed the valuables in plastic bags and left them outside her front door.
A short time later, another member of the gang arrived, collected the bags and walked away without raising suspicion. When the victim realised she had been deceived, she immediately contacted police.
In her statement to the Pylaia–Hortiatis police department, the woman said the bags contained 453 gold sovereigns, jewellery worth about €100,000 and €10,000 in cash.
Investigators quickly identified the suspects and carried out arrests on Thursday, detaining three of the four alleged members of the gang. Police sources said, however, that officers did not find the stolen items in their possession.
Authorities noted that the incident adds to a growing number of similar scams reported across Greece, urging especially elderly citizens not to trust strangers and to contact police immediately in any suspicious case.
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