Identity theft

Online fraud is becoming a veritable scourge with more than 3,000 cases recorded in 2023 alone, according to cybercrime authorities. 

More specifically, 3,656 cases and 273 attempts were recorded, with only 627 solved so far, while the victims of fraud amounted to 3,733.

One of the key figures in Greece's spiraling wiretapping case still owns a 35% stake of Intellexa, which sells Predator spyware in Greece, despite attempts to show that he had sold the stake, a report revealed on Wednesday.

A request by two prosecutors last year to check whether the 92 people targeted by illegal spyware Predator had also been surveilled by the country's intelligence service, EYP, remains pending four months after it was submitted to the independent authority responsible for privacy, ADAE.

The Treasury Department announced Tuesday it has sanctioned two people and a Greece-based commercial spyware company headed by a former Israeli military officer that developed, operated and distributed technology used to target U.S. government officials, journalists and policy experts.

The European Parliament on Wednesday called on the Commission to act over what it described as "grave concerns" about the rule of law in Greece, citing a hostile environment for journalists, the use of spyware against political opponents and journalists and abuse of power by the police.

MEPs adopted the resolution with 330 votes in favor, 254 against, and 26 abstentions.

The United States on Monday announced a new visa restriction policy for those it said were misusing commercial spyware.

The Higher Education Council (YÖK) has collaborated with the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) to inform students about the dangers they may face if their bank accounts are used for illegal purposes.

As it was said, various hacker groups breached security systems, accessed confidential information and demanded ransoms. What should be pointed out is that, according to the information, there is no evidence that these attacks actually took place.

In an age of deepfakes and post-truth, as artificial intelligence rose and Elon Musk turned Twitter into X, the Merriam-Webster word of the year for 2023 is "authentic."

About 7.2 million euros was charged in the first half of 2023 to debit and credit card holders due to the 31% increase in fraud incidents which raised the amount "embezzled" from cards to €12.5 million (an increase of 29% compared to the second half of 2022).