The scam, which is found throughout Cyprus, has again come to the attention of the police after extortionists attacked a man. He was hospitalized with injuries.
Fraudsters operate in two ways. The first method is essentially just aggressive marketing. Salespeople approach unsuspecting drivers in large parking lots (often near supermarkets or shopping centers) and aggressively offer to buy new windshield wipers. Usually the cost is greatly inflated. The driver may refuse, but often many are unable to resist the pressure and agree to pay. The second method is that scammers simply approach a parked car and change the windshield wipers on it without asking the owner, and when he appears, they demand payment from him. This method involves the scammers finding their victim in advance to make sure that they cannot resist them. Therefore, elderly people and women often suffer from scammers.
On October 19, in the village of Timi, scammers acted according to the second scheme. The incident occurred in the parking lot of the Sunday Open Market. One of the customers returned to her car and discovered that unknown people had replaced her windshield wipers without permission and were demanding payment for it. When she refused to pay and demanded that the new wipers be removed and the old ones returned, the attackers said that these materials were disposable and would break if they were removed. Their altercation was noticed by a 47-year-old acquaintance of the woman, who stood up for her. The attackers attacked and beat him, and then fled. The man was taken to Nicosia Hospital where he received stitches.
Police sources confirmed to Phileleftheros that this practice is widespread throughout Cyprus. Although this is not a new scheme, the seriousness of the latest incident has brought the scam back into the public eye.
The text was prepared based on materials from In Cyprus.
