A phone scam using AI voice cloning to impersonate victims’ relatives generated more than €1 million in alleged illegal proceeds across Greece, according to police, who arrested two suspected members of the operation. The men, ages 23 and 25, were arrested in Nea Ionia after authorities said about €30,000 worth of valuables had been taken from a home.
The Hellenic Police said the group had been active since at least early July and used a structured system involving callers, collectors and organizers. Callers allegedly posed as employees of electricity distributor DEDDIE, mobile phone providers, fiber-optic installers and other service organizations.
When a victim questioned the story, investigators said the callers sometimes asked for the phone number of a trusted relative. They then contacted that person separately, often under another service-related pretext, and captured a short voice sample. Police said an artificial intelligence (AI) tool was used to reproduce characteristics of the relative’s voice.
How the AI voice cloning scam in Greece built trust
The scammers then returned to the original victim and used the cloned voice to make the instructions appear legitimate, according to police. The technique was intended to overcome skepticism and persuade people to cooperate with supposed technicians or collectors.
Authorities said the two arrested suspects acted as collectors. Four other people were included in the case file, and three had been identified when police announced the operation Sept. 18. Investigators also linked the organization to five additional cases using similar methods.
Police said the group also used a vehicle stolen Sept. 14 as an operational car. Local media reported that a third suspected participant escaped during the Nea Ionia operation after ramming vehicles and lightly injuring an officer. Local reports also gave conflicting accounts of the victim’s age, which was not disclosed by police.
Police had warned about voice mimicry a month earlier
The case followed a national warning issued by Hellenic Police on Aug. 13 about phone scams involving the possible use of AI to imitate familiar voices. That alert described a similar method in which scammers first contacted a relative, then called another family member while posing as DEDDIE workers and used a familiar-sounding voice to reinforce the deception.
The recent police statement referred back to that warning, but it did not say every earlier case was connected to the same organization.
Police said the investigation remained open as authorities worked to determine the full extent of the group’s activities. Police urged people “not to consider a familiar voice, by itself, sufficient confirmation of the identity of the person being heard.”
Authorities advised people who receive suspicious calls to hang up and contact relatives directly using a number they already know. Police also recommended using a family safety word or another piece of information known only to relatives.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
