A gesture of kindness turned into a nightmare for a Formian woman, victim of what was called the “glasses scam” in the neighborhood of San Giulio, a stone’s throw from the post office. The episode, which occurred on Wednesday morning, once again demonstrates the devious ingenuity of criminals and the need to pay maximum attention.
The lady, waiting for her turn in the car, was approached by a woman who, thoughtfully, informed her of the presence of a pair of glasses that had fallen to the ground right behind her car.
Moved by good faith, the woman got out of the car to check, but it was just a clever setup to distract her. While the woman was bending over to pick up her glasses, an accomplice of the scammer, hidden in ambush, silently approached her car and took her bag, located on the passenger seat. Deftly, he grabbed the bag and quickly disappeared.
Realizing the scam immediately, the woman instinctively tried to stop the criminals, but their escape was orchestrated with precision. With cunning, the scammers managed to get into a car that was waiting for them nearby, and in a few moments they drove away in the confusion of city traffic, evading capture.
The victim was rescued by some people who were near the post office, who called 118. The woman was entrusted to the care of the staff, fortunately she was not injured, but was shaken by the incident. The Carabinieri from the Formia station intervened on site, directed by Lieutenant Alessandro Tolo, who started investigations to identify those responsible. In addition to the testimonies collected on site, municipal video surveillance images were acquired in order to find the license plate number of the vehicle in which the criminals escaped.
Law enforcement agencies invite citizens to pay attention to this type of scam, which takes advantage of people’s courtesy and distraction to steal their personal property. In particular, they advise you to be wary of strangers who approach you in an overly solicitous manner.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
