It couldn’t have been worse for a gang of crooks from Turin away in Bologna. The three were outwitted by as many pensioners who foiled the scam. Not only. An 88-year-old also managed to lock one of the criminals on the balcony who was then reported by the police for aggravated fraud in competition.
The man, pretending to be a technician in charge of checking the meters, rang the bell at the entrance to the grandfather’s apartment: «Sorry to disturb you, but I should give a “nuclear shock” to his meter and also to the safe with the mobile phone».
But, this time, things went really badly for the 55-year-old scammer. Because his potential victim – who lives with his 80-year-old wife – is not only very lucid, but is a former researcher at the National Institute of Nuclear Physics. He immediately understood that it was a scam: «Come, please, let’s start with the meter which is outside on the balcony».
And so, when the scammer came out, the pensioner closed the door and trapped him. Then he called 112. The 55-year-old then started shouting from the balcony to attract the attention of his two accomplices who were left on the street. The man and woman slipped into the building with the goal of freeing their companion. But they found the stairs barred by the former physicist and his neighborsan 80-year-old with his partner, who had gone out onto the landing suspicious of the screams.
The two had no choice but to flee and leave their friend to his fate. Shortly afterwards, a police patrol arrived and freed the 55-year-old and reported him. The man already has several precedents for fraud and theft throughout Italy.
