Calls from fake “accountants”, phishing through online listings, fraudulent bank and e-EFKA messages, and AI capable of mimicking even a familiar voice: the latest cases and the Greek Police’s warnings

The supposed “accountant” calls about a tax rebate that supposedly needs crediting immediately. The organisation “employee” reports an outstanding financial matter. An email that appears to come from e-EFKA, Greece’s social security and pension body, asks the recipient to click a link, while an online sales advert can lead to a fake bank page.

In the latest version of the fraud, authorities are even warning that the voice on the other end of the line may have been generated with artificial intelligence to sound like a relative.

Online and phone scams are changing shape, and above all becoming more convincing. The common thread in the cases reaching police authorities recently is that perpetrators no longer simply wait for someone to fall for a hastily written message. They build a story that sounds real, borrowing the identity of an accountant, a bank employee or a public sector worker, creating a sense of urgency and trying to leave the prospective victim no time to think or check what they are hearing.

The Greek Police issued a fresh warning on 13 August. Fraudsters commonly pose as employees of utility companies, public services, telecoms firms, banks or accountancy offices, using various pretexts: a supposed technical fault, an outstanding payment, a refund or an “urgent audit”. The goal is always the same: to create pressure and confusion so that the citizen acts before they have a chance to check who is really calling them.

The biggest shift now lies in the technology. The Greek Police point to the possibility of artificial intelligence applications being used to imitate the voice of a relative. This makes the scenario much harder to dismiss at first hearing: a person may hear a voice that sounds familiar, immediately followed by someone claiming to be a police officer, doctor or other figure asking for money because of an emergency. Authorities stress, however, that reports of such incidents remain limited for now. It is more a new tool entering fraudsters’ arsenal than a method that has already replaced the older ones.

The “accountant”, by contrast, remains a constant. The stories used are tailored to everyday financial life: a tax rebate, a benefit payment, a debt settlement or some supposed outstanding matter with the tax office. On 3 August, the Greek Police issued a new warning, citing cases of perpetrators posing as accountants who use exactly this pretext, the granting of a benefit, a tax rebate or a debt arrangement. That is where the real “phishing” begins: attackers ask for card details, PINs, verification codes or other information that opens the way to the victim’s bank account.

In a case solved in Arta, a man received a call from someone claiming to be an accountant who convinced him he was entitled to benefit payments. Following the caller’s instructions, the victim handed over the details of two bank cards, and €2,050 was transferred out of his accounts.

The scale of this “industry” was illustrated even more clearly in a major case broken up by the Organised Crime Prosecution Directorate in July. The gang used the guise of an employee of DEDDIE, Greece’s electricity distribution network operator, or an accountant, and had even set up a “call centre”. Seven members were arrested, including two ringleaders and the “callers”, while according to the Greek Police, the illegal proceeds exceeded €1.6 million.

The stories deployed sometimes stretch to the limits of the improbable. In a case in Aigialeia, perpetrators posing as “accountants” convinced elderly victims to bring cash, jewellery and valuables outside their homes, claiming they needed to be recorded by satellite. Police linked the defendant to a criminal group that is said to have carried out four scams and two attempted scams within ten days.

In Chalkida, two further cases were solved in August, with perpetrators using the guise of a DEDDIE employee and a supposed accountant respectively. The repeated use of the same professions is no coincidence: these are figures citizens are accustomed to giving financial information to, or taking instructions from, regarding accounts, taxes and payments.

At the same time, the trap is moving from the phone to the screen. Only on 26 August, police announced they had solved a phishing case in Samos. It had started from an online advert selling a mobile phone: through a deceptive link, the victim’s banking details were stolen and €1,440 was taken from her account. The crime had actually taken place around a year earlier, but the identification of the suspect was only announced now.

This is one of the most dangerous features of modern phishing. The fraudster does not necessarily need to send a message out of the blue. They can appear within a genuine transaction: someone is selling a phone, an item or a product through an advert, and the supposed buyer sends them a link to “make payment”. The fake page asks for bank details, and that is where an ordinary sale turns into a trap.

In August, a new wave of misleading emails also appeared, posing as messages from e-EFKA, about which the Cybercrime Prosecution Directorate issued a warning. The look is familiar but increasingly polished: logos, colours and terminology that echo the real organisation, aimed at making the recipient believe they are dealing with a normal administrative process and follow the link provided.

The same model is used with banks, tax authorities, electricity companies and other organisations. And this is perhaps the biggest difference compared with older online scams: the poorly spelt email promising millions has given way to far more “everyday” stories. A tax rebate, a benefit, a payment from an online advert, an account notice or a supposed outstanding matter is far more likely to reach a recipient at a moment when they are genuinely expecting something similar.

This is why authorities insist on one simple rule: no genuine employee of a bank, public service or accountancy office ever needs a person’s PIN or the one-time code sent to their phone in order to pay out a benefit or a tax rebate. The Greek Police also recommend never filling in personal or financial details on forms received through unknown emails, texts or social media, and always contacting the organisation or person supposedly calling independently, through channels already known to be genuine.

This is especially true when a relative appears to be calling in an “emergency”: the advice now carries extra weight, hang up and call the relative back on a number already saved. If someone claims to be an accountant, call your own accountant. If a message looks like it is from a bank, open the bank’s app rather than following a link sent by text or email.