Crete electronic fraud targets municipalities for 500,000 euros

Authorities in Crete are investigating a series of sophisticated electronic frauds targeting local government accounts. The Anti-Money Laundering Authority is examining two closely linked incidents that suggest a single criminal organization is responsible.

The most recent attack involved the theft of approximately 500,000 euros from a large municipality, with reports pointing toward the Municipality of Agios Nikolaos. Perpetrators allegedly used a fraudulent website designed to mimic a banking interface to gain access to accounts, executing rapid overnight transfers to foreign bank accounts.

This follows an incident discovered just six days earlier, where approximately 152,000 euros were stolen from a service within the Crete Region in Rethymno. In that case, criminals utilized a technique known as ‘smurfing,’ breaking the total amount into 55 consecutive small transactions to evade detection. Through cooperation with international agencies, authorities have managed to secure roughly half of the funds from the first incident. Investigations are ongoing to identify the perpetrators and recover the remaining assets.