Twenty-year-old arrested in Paphos for series of SMS fraud cases

Police in Paphos arrested a 20-year-old man on October 14, 2026, in connection with three separate cases of online fraud involving the dissemination of deceptive SMS messages. Investigations by the Paphos Criminal Investigation Department (CID) revealed that the suspect successfully extracted over 19,500 euros from victims. Following his arrest via a court warrant, the Paphos District Court ordered his detention for eight days to facilitate ongoing inquiries.

At the time of his latest arrest, the suspect was already in custody for three similar fraud cases being handled by the Larnaca CID. He had been detained on October 6, 2026, for crimes involving more than 7,000 euros in that district. The total amount of money reported to have been defrauded across both jurisdictions exceeds 26,500 euros. Authorities from both Paphos and Larnaca are continuing their joint investigation into the full extent of the suspect's criminal activities.