Olbia «Hello, I’m the Carabinieri Marshal Marco De Stefano, her daughter ran over a child…». The “fake accident scam” begins like this. Throwing elderly people who answer the phone into a panic, fragile victims and, therefore, favorites of scams. It happened in recent days, in the city, to a 77-year-old woman and only thanks to the intervention of her other daughter who rushed home and called the carabinieri – the real ones – was the scam foiled. The pensioner, the phantom marshal and an equally phantom lawyer, thelawyer Domenico Primo, they had asked to pay 4,200 euros to avoid the alleged investor (obviously unaware of everything) being reported by the child’s family, thus getting her out of trouble. In reality, there had been no road accident. Everything was false. Except for the attempted scam, that was terribly true. So true and current that on the same day the Carabinieri of the territorial department of Olbia also received a complaint from another elderly woman from whom they had tried to extort money by implementing the same strategy.
Unfortunately, in recent times, despite appeals to warn citizens, some scams have succeeded, and scammers have managed to get cash and even valuables delivered. The phenomenon is spreading, causing great concern in Olbia families, especially in those where elderly parents are present. Reports to the police are on the increase. There are two people acting in the city. One passes himself off as a policeman, the other as a lawyer. This was also the case two days ago. After breaking the news of what happened to her daughter, the marshal “reassured” the 77-year-old, who was in tears and in shock, telling her, essentially, that everything would be resolved by paying. «Your daughter has already found a lawyer – she said – and an agreement has been reached with the lawyer of the child who was hit to avoid the complaint: 4,200 euros are needed. In a while you will call her the lawyer ». No sooner said than done. Not even time to finish the sentence, and then the cell phone rings. The man on the phone introduces himself as the lawyer Dominic Primo. Who, even, tells the minor grandson of the 77-year-old the street where he should go to bring the money that his grandmother had in the house. In other reported episodes, the two scammers even showed up in person directly at the home of the elderly.
In general the mode of operation of criminals, it is always the same: the intended victim is studied and information is acquired to be more credible. Then the call is made in which the interlocutor pretends to be a law enforcement operator and tells the elderly mother on duty that her son or daughter has caused a bad accident and that he or she will soon be reported or arrested if no one manages to raise enough money. money and valuables to immediately compensate the victim of the fake accident. At that point, while the phone call is still in progress, the accomplice enters the scene. Who shows up at the house, or calls another telephone number that “the marshal” has obtained in the meantime from the victim of the scam: the lawyer would represent, in some cases, the interests of the investor, in others, those of the person or family involved in the accident. Once they have gathered everything they can – when they succeed – the scammers disappear to move on to the new victim. It is essential to know that no member of the police force would ever ask a citizen for money or valuables, either to resolve a dispute or for any other reason.
