The third edition of the campaign to prevent and combat scams against the elderly was presented this morning in the council room of Palazzo di Città “No one touches my grandparents”organized by the municipal administration, the local police, the prefecture of Foggia and financed through the Single Fund for Justice of the Ministry of the Interior.
The local police councilor Daniela Patano underlined “the concern for an unfortunately increasingly widespread phenomenon, which sees elderly people as victims when leaving supermarkets and post offices, or even in their homes, and the need for adequate counter action starting from information and widespread network of assistance and help”. Inspector Severina Cavalli (who participated in the press conference with colleagues from the local police Vincenzo Spadavecchio -inspector-, Stefano Berardino -deputy commander- and Raffaele Iocola -chief and deputy commissioner) highlighted the ability of scammers to identify “elderly people who live alone, and who therefore they must be helped and supported by a community that must become increasingly larger and more widespread”.
The commander of the local police Romeo Delle Noci stigmatized these “criminal conducts among the most detestable, because they affect our dearest loved ones in a particular condition of fragility, pushed to open up in their most private and personal sphere, led to believe in situations of imminent danger for a close family member ”. The standard types of scam, in fact, involve the elderly man or woman being hooked up by a so-called colleague and friend of a son (a daughter) or very close relative, and once trust has been gained through a short conversation, he or she arrives or entry into the apartment (the most risky situation, also for their safety) or the disbursement of cash, in large quantities. The mayor Maria Aida Episcopo expressed “solidarity with the victims and closeness to the families”, and the desire to “increasingly strengthen the protection of a segment of the population that is in our hearts and could not be otherwise”.
The campaign will develop through a series of meetings in the parishes (the Foggia-Bovino archdiocese is a precious partner with its moral patronage, the first meeting took place on Saturday evening in the parish of Sant’Antonio), in the info points located in strategic points and in meeting places particularly frequented by elderly people. Then posters posted throughout the city, a dedicated telephone number, 0881.790506, which will be active from Monday to Saturday from 9am to 12pm (but for other times and days, and emergency situations you can obviously call the local Police Headquarters or other numbers related to public safety), and an email address for reports: [email protected].
For further information, you can consult the website: Polizialocale.comune.foggia.it
