The facts date back to last April 9th and the presence of the two young people was reported by some calls to the emergency numbers 113 and 112. The method used was that of the “self-styled policeman”, who told the victim of an accident which had occurred to a relative, to then request money and valuables and resolve the matter, avoiding arrest. The possible victims did not fall into the trap and put the police on the right track to identify them.
The agents of the Flying Squad, alerted by the Operations Room of the Police Headquarters, began an intense control activity in the area, identifying a FIAT 500X in the city center, which could have belonged to the fraudsters. Once an initial check was carried out, the occupants of the car were identified, two young Neapolitans, who were unable to provide plausible reasons to justify their presence in Matera. Furthermore, the car was found to have been rented a few days earlier in Naples. Suspected of being the “couriers” of the scam attempts that had just occurred, they were searched and found to be in possession of a mobile phone, on whose Google maps application two addresses were stored, corresponding to the homes of two elderly people recently contacted by the fake policeman.
According to the investigations carried out by the investigators, a “telephone operator” had contacted one of the victims, posing as a policeman and keeping her on the phone for many minutes, while the woman – worried about the fate of her son, who she had been led to believe had hit a pedestrian who had ended up hospital, in serious condition – complied with the request, preparing a substantial sum of money in cash, plus the valuables he kept at home, to deliver it to the elusive “colleague” of the self-styled policeman, who would arrive shortly thereafter. However, two minutes before the collection, the police officers caught the alleged couriers red-handed, ruining their plans and preventing the scam. The two men, therefore, were arrested and will appear in court for their defense.
Useful advice – The Police Headquarters once again reminds you to be extremely careful when you are contacted by strangers asking for money or other benefits. In such cases, even at the slightest doubt, it is always better to contact 113 immediately, without opening the front door. Responding with a firm “excuse me, I don’t have time” to a stranger who stops you on the street or contacts you by phone, posing as a professional, a relative or a friend of the latter, asking for money or other benefits, are just a few suggestions for preventing scams, which can be found in the brochure created for citizens and available at the police station and police stations.
Tags: Naples Matera scams elderly young people arrested
