“There is a methane leak, save all your cash before it demagnetizes and becomes useless.” With these words, on Friday afternoon, a scammer deceived an elderly man who had all his belongings robbed. The scam took place on the hills of Sant’Aquilina, in the hinterland of Rimini, when the victim, an 80-year-old, was approached by a self-styled methane network technician who raised the “alarm” for a gas leak by simulating it spraying material from a can.
The elderly man was “advised” by the fraudster to recover the cash he had at home because, if it came into contact with the methane cloud, “it would have been demagnetised and thus lost its legal tender status”. The fake worker also suggested to the victim to close the banknotes inside the refrigerator which, as it was tin, would protect them from any damage.
The elderly man, now at the mercy of the scammer and frightened by the non-existent gas leak alarm, followed the fake employee’s suggestions by recovering the money and then putting it in the freezer. It was at this point that the criminal, taking advantage of the confusion, took possession of the bribe of over 4 thousand euros and then fled at full speed, leaving the 80-year-old in a state of confusion due to the commotion. When the victim realized that she had been defrauded, she raised the alarm, calling for a police patrol to rush in, but when the military arrived there was no trace of the criminal. Investigations are underway to try to identify the scammer.
