Telephone scammers in Greece have reached a new level: to make the victim believe the call, they use recording that simulates ΔΕΔΔΗΕ, emergency signals and even the sound of a police car siren.
Reported an unusual scheme Greek Police (ΕΛ.ΑΣ.). The operation was carried out by the Economic Crimes Unit of the Organized Crime Directorate.
During the operation On September 23, eight people were detained in Attica. According to investigators, two of them led the organization. The detainees were handed over to the prosecutor’s office and then sent to an investigator.
The call had to look real
The scheme was designed primarily for human trust and fear.
According to police, the alleged members of the group found the names of potential victims in a printed telephone directory and on the Internet, and then began making mass calls.
The caller could introduce himself employee ΔΕΔΔΗΕ (HEDNO), energy or telecommunications company or accountant.
They came up with different reasons: the need to declare something to the tax office, an allegedly discovered electricity leak, a malfunction of the electrical network or telecommunications.
The goal remained the same: to convince a person to collect cash, jewelry and other valuables and place them in the designated place inside or near the house. After this, another member of the group took the left things.
IMPORTANT: hang up if they call you and demand:
- collect cash or jewelry from home;
- transfer valuables to another place due to an alleged “electricity leak”;
- leave money or jewelry near the door, on the balcony or in another accessible place;
- urgently follow the instructions of an alleged employee of ΔΕΔΔΗΕ, an energy company or an “accountant”;
- believe the caller just because you hear an official-sounding recording;
- to believe a “cop” just because a siren can be heard in the background.
End the conversation and call the organization back yourself at its official number.
Recording of ΔΕΔΔΗΕ and “police car” in the background
It is the technical preparation that makes this scheme especially dangerous.
ΕΛ.ΑΣ. reports that the suspects used pre-recorded automated message that simulated ΔΕΔΔΗΕ. It was meant to give the victim the impression that he was actually communicating with the energy company.
An emergency sound signal was also used.
But the organizers, according to investigators, did not stop there. When the scammer introduced himself as a police officer, the sound effect similar to a police car siren. This was to finally convince the person that he was really talking to a police officer.
After the theft they could call again – this time “from the police”
There is one more revealing detail.
According to ΕΛ.ΑΣ., in some cases, after money and valuables have already been stolen, the victim called again.
Now the interlocutor introduced himself as a police officer and tried to find out value of stolen property.
In fact, the same person could first receive a call from a “ΔΕΔΔΗΕ” or “accountant” and then from a fake “police officer.”
A real call center for scammers
The investigation does not describe a few random calls, but an organized system.
The premises were equipped as call centers. They were changed periodically, as were telephone connections. Security shutters and video surveillance systems were installed in the premises, which, according to the police, helped avoid detection.
The roles were also distributed: two managers supervised the work, one person was engaged in searching for potential victims and telephone connections, and five “operators” We called people directly.
During searches, the police found and seized 10 mobile phones, a telephone directory and its fragments, handwritten notes and €960.
The main rule: do not check the scammer during a conversation
What to do: hang up. Then independently find the official number of ΔΕΔΔΗΕ, bank, accountant, police or other organization and call there yourself.
Do not use the number dictated by the caller and do not follow his instructions “to verify his identity.”
The main lesson of this story is simple: the sound of a siren, an automatic message and a professionally structured conversation are no longer proof that the call is real.
It is especially important to explain this to older relatives. Fraudsters do not count on a person’s technical illiteracy, but on stress: “accident”, “leak”, “tax problem”, “police” – everything should force the victim to act immediately, without having time to check the information.
Official source: Ελληνική Αστυνομία – message from the Office for Combating Organized Crime dated September 25, 2026.
Additionally: in.gr – materials about the operation and methods of the group’s work.
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