They weren’t worth the money they were asking for. And even less so the exaggerated amounts that they then typed on the POS without being seen. And above all they were not mandatory as they made the victims believe, there were no controls or even state incentives. In short, it was a scam, only better thought out and more difficult to detect.
With the operation carried out in the last few hours the Verona carabinieri have eliminated the situation a gang of Brescians who in recent months had defrauded at least 15 people in the Veronese areaselling non-mandatory gas detectors worth a few euros at exorbitant prices.
The police tracked him down five people between Manerba, Fiesse and Piancogno as well as a man from Mantua, between 30 and 60 years old and they arrested them. The alleged leader, 57 years old, is in prison, the others under house arrest.
The group prepared the ground: in the days before going into action in a building they posted a fake flyer in the entrance hall in which they announced checks on the presence of mandatory equipment in each apartment. The aim was to reassure the victims and be able to deceive them.
When the scammers, who had specially set up a company, showed up at the door, the victim felt calm having already heard about it and having seen a notice on the door of the building.
At that point the criminals, who all have specific precedents, explained that they had to install a mandatory gas detector and asked for payment by debit card. In front of the elderly man they typed a number and then, before confirming, they multiplied it tenfoldin some cases reaching the point of charging over a thousand euros to a 90-year-old.
