ATHENS – Criminals pressuring people online to make near-instant decisions about financial matters have been so successful in Greece that the amount of money they stole jumped 200 percent so far in 2021 compared to 2020.

Some 55 of that came through phishing scams in which the unwitting are tricked and deceived and fall for it despite widespread publicity not to open emails or attachments from people they don’t know or avoid being scammed, said The Bank of Greece.

“The perpetrators try to stress out and pressure recipients with their messages, giving them the impression that they have little time to make critical decisions, otherwise they are told, for example, that their bank account may be blocked,” information systems security expert Andreas Venieris tells Kathimerini.

According to Europol, most phishing attacks are successful due to inadequate security measures or ignorance on behalf of users and the victims fall prey easily to experienced criminals and hackers who know the right button to push.