AN ELDERLY woman from Limassol has been conned out of €30,000 by another woman claiming to be her granddaughter. Police warned the public to be extra vigilant during these times of economic crisis, predicting more scams of this nature to come.

According to Limassol CID chief Ioannis Soteriades, a 72-year-old woman living in Episkopi in the Limassol District was contacted by a younger woman last Monday pretending to be her granddaughter who lives in Larnaca.

The woman told the pensioner that she has a serious health problem and needs €20,000 to travel abroad urgently for surgery.

Falling for the scam, the 72-year-old put the money in an envelope and gave it to a taxi driver to take to Larnaca Airport where the supposed granddaughter was due to depart from.

The following day, the grandmother received another phone call from the woman saying there were complications with the surgery and could she send another €10,000 by taxi, which the pensioner did.

On Friday, the 72-year-old’s real granddaughter called her to wish her a happy name day, at which point the grandmother came to the realisation that she had been well and truly conned.

Soteriades said police located and questioned the taxi driver who had transported the money. Police released him after questioning, coming to the conclusion that he was not involved in the scam.

The authorities are now looking for the confidence trickster and the €30,000. The woman is described as being of thin build, 1.65m in height with brown hair down to her shoulders.

The Limassol CID chief called on the public to be extra cautious and not to be duped easily by potential scams.

Cyprus Mail