Nicosia police on Wednesday said they had remanded a 32-year-old woman in connection with a case of obtaining €24,000 from a couple under false pretences. The money would allegedly pay for an operation on their allegedly injured daughter.

The scam was reported to the police by a 66-year-old woman who said that while she was at her house in Nicosia at around 12.30pm on Tuesday, she received a phone call from an unknown man who told her he was a doctor at the general hospital.

He also said her daughter had hurt her leg and required surgery. The man requested €96,000 in cash for the operation and instructed them to meet at a specific location in Nicosia.

According to the police, the woman, together with her husband, collected a large amount of money in cash and cheques, and went to the meeting point. There, a woman approached them and told them she was sent from the alleged doctor and received €24,000 from the couple before going into a nearby house.

When the couple managed to contact their daughter and realised they had fallen victim of fraud, they reported the case to the police.

Officers located and arrested the 32-year-old woman who had allegedly met the couple. She handed over the sum of €23,978 to the police without giving a satisfactory explanation about the money’s origin.