They scammed elderly people with phone calls, claiming to be lawyers or policemen: 17 arrests. The “operations center” was in Naples

They lured the victims – randomly chosen through searches done on the internet or on the white pages – with phone calls from their “operations center” in Naples and then, in rental cars, the scammers reached the elderly in Rome and other cities in Lazio and Campania . This is what was reconstructed by the investigations of the Carabinieri of the Unit […]

They lured the victims – randomly chosen through searches done on the internet or on the white pages – with phone calls from theirs “operations center” in Naples and then, on rental cars, the scammers they reached The elderly people in Rome and other cities in Lazio and Campania. This is what was reconstructed by the investigations of the Carabinieri of the Operational Unit of the Compagnia di Roma Trionfale, under the direction of the Capital Prosecutor’s Office, which led to the execution – since dawn on Thursday – of 17 precautionary measures7 in prison and 10 ai home: 13 people are suspected of belonging to one organization dedicated to scams and extortion to the detriment of the elderly and another 4 of having helped them inexecution of shots.

Posing as a postal worker, insurer, lawyer or policeman, the “telephone operator” he said that a familiar had to pay the debt to collect a package or that had caused a car accidentthat the insurance had expired and that it was necessary to “fix” things hand over money or jewellery. An accomplice would later pick them up from the victims’ homes, and only hours later, speaking with the son or grandson in question, would they discover the scam.

As a response, during the investigation, the Carabinieri also carried out 10 arrestsin flagrant crime, for scams committed in Rome to the detriment of elderly people, with simultaneous recovery and restitution of the stolen goods. This was announced in a press release from the Provincial Command of the Carabinieri of Rome. In particular, the investigations by the Carabinieri of the Operational Unit of the Compagnia di Roma Trionfale – under the direction of the Rome Prosecutor’s Office, serious crimes against property and narcotics group – have made it possible to collect serious circumstantial elements regarding the existence of acriminal association based in Naples and headed by members of a specific family, dedicated to the commission of an indeterminate series of crimes (mostly scams and sometimes extortion) against elderly people living in Rome and Lazio, but also in other Italian regions, gathering serious indications of guilt against the suspects in relation to 80 episodes consumed in the provinces of Rome, Naples, Latin And Viterboover the period of time between September 2022 and March 2023.

The precautionary measures, issued by the investigating judge of Rome, were carried out by the Carabinieri of the Provincial Command of Rome – delegated by the Prosecutor’s Office – in the province of Naples, supported by the territorially competent Carabinieri commands. The Carabinieri’s investigations have made it possible to collect circumstantial elements regarding the role of all the suspects in various cases batteries made up of two people, they left every day from Naples with rented cars. The victims were chosen randomly through searches done on the internet or on the white pages, contacted by “telephone operators” and then reached by “couriers”. Over the course of searches the Carabinieri also found a instruction manual with a detailed description of the things the telephone operator had to say to the victims to carry out the scams as well as cash, hundreds of telephone cards, dozens of mobile phones and a large quantity of jewellery.