Katerini Police revealed a major scheme that under the guise of investing in cryptocurrency promised to clients doubling your capital in just 50 days.
Detained 17 peopleamong them nine military personnel, and according to the police, more than $8 million.
Briefly about the main thing
- detained 17 peoplenine more are involved in the case;
- among those detained, according to Greek media, are 9 military personnel;
- two persons involved are assigned a leadership role;
- the scheme was in effect for at least 2025;
- clients were promised virtually guaranteed high incomes and doubling capital in 50 days;
- at least 10,000 people;
- about $8 million;
- during searches the police seized almost €295,000 cashcomputers, phones and digital media.
They promised to double the money in 50 days
According to the official message Greek policethe organization operated through seemingly legal companies and an Internet platform.
Potential investors were promised exceptionally high returns with minimal or no risk. The main alluring argument was the promise to double the initial capital in about 50 days.
The investigation believes that the scheme had the characteristics of a classic financial pyramid: participants attracted new clients, and those who brought new investors received bonuses.
At least 10,000 participants
According to the police, the organizers managed to attract at least 10,000 peopleand the total amount of funds received on the platform is estimated at approximately $8 million.
At the same time, at the current stage of the investigation, 18 victimswho invested a total of €55,970. This does not mean that there were only 18 victims: we are talking about those whom the police have so far officially identified in the criminal case.
17 detainees and nine military
During the large-scale operation, 17 alleged members of the organization were detained. Nine more people are included in the case file.
According to ProtoThema and ERT, among those detained are nine military personneland two non-commissioned officers are assigned key leadership roles.
The police operation took place in several regions of the country at once – in Pieria, Larissa, Mytilene, Patras, Ioannina, Komotini, Preveza, Attica and Kavala.
What was found during searches
Police searched five offices, nine houses and other premises.
The following were seized:
- €295,090 cash;
- 32 mobile phones;
- 38 USB drives;
- 16 hard drives;
- 28 computers;
- 15 tablets;
- bank cards and SIM cards;
- money counting machine and video surveillance equipment.
One of the detainees was also found in possession of a signal pistol, firecrackers and metal balls.
Why is this story important for Russian-speaking residents of Greece?
Cryptocurrency fraud has long ceased to be something rare. Athens News regularly sees offers on Telegram, Facebook and other social networks “cryptocurrency exchanges”, “high-yield investments” and fast transactions through unknown intermediaries.
The use of cryptocurrency itself, of course, does not mean fraud. Danger begins where a person or company promises guaranteed profit, no risk or unusually high returnespecially if all communication is carried out only through instant messengers and social networks.
What to pay attention to
- do not transfer money or cryptocurrency to a person you know only through Telegram, WhatsApp or Facebook;
- don’t trust promises “guaranteed income”;
- do not install programs for remote access to a computer or phone at the request of strangers;
- do not transfer seed phrases, private keys, bank codes and passwords;
- check whether the company has the necessary permission for investment activities;
- Be especially careful about cryptocurrency exchange offers through unknown intermediaries.
The simplest rule here often turns out to be the most useful: if an unknown person found you on a social network and offers you to quickly make money on cryptocurrency, first assume that this may be a fraudulent scheme, and only after careful verification assume the opposite.
Editorial commentary from the Athens News. The promise of doubling your capital in 50 days should itself sound like an alarm bell. But it is precisely on such promises that financial pyramids have been operating for decades: only the tools change. Previously, these were “investment funds”, today – cryptocurrency, Telegram and beautiful applications with numbers that the client accepts as real money.
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