Campobasso – A man pretended to be a Carabinieri marshal, defrauding an elderly woman with the excuse of a fake car accident caused by her daughter.
The deception, however, was revealed thanks to a seemingly trivial detail: an expensive pair of shoes worn during the crime. The man, a resident of Naples in the area of Secondigliano, was placed under house arrest by order of the investigating judge of the Campobasso court, at the request of the local prosecutor's office.
The story, reconstructed in detail by the Carabinieri of Bojano, dates back to some time ago, when the fake marshal contacted the elderly woman by telephone, claiming that her daughter had been arrested after a road accident.
To avoid prison, he asked her for 15.000 euros as bail. The woman, frightened, gave the man 10.000 euros, all the money she had in the house, when he showed up at her door pretending to be a “collaborator of the Marshal”.
But the scammer wasn't satisfied. He also demanded the woman's gold items, claiming that they were necessary to cover the missing sum and avoid legal troubles for his daughter. The elderly woman, although confused, followed the instructions, falling completely into the trap.
The investigation, coordinated by the Campobasso Prosecutor's Office and conducted by the Carabinieri of Bojano, took a decisive turn thanks to the images from the video surveillance systems in the area. Among the key elements, the identification of the scammer stands out, also made possible by his luxury shoes, recognized by the victim and found during a search of his home in Naples.
"This investigation," commented prosecutor Nicola D'Angelo, "demonstrates once again how scammers exploit the legitimate desire to protect their loved ones, especially the elderly, pushing them to perform actions of which they are not fully aware. The authoritative figure of the 'Marshal of the Carabinieri' and the fear of legal consequences for their children represent a powerful psychological lever in these scams."
The man is now under house arrest, while the elderly woman, despite her advanced age, has shown surprising lucidity, immediately recognizing the scammer from the images of the cameras. A story that, in addition to highlighting the brutality of certain crimes, underlines the importance of details in investigations: sometimes, even a pair of shoes can make the difference.
Article published on 28 February 2025 - 16:38
The story of the scammer who passes himself off as a marshal is very worrying. It is incredible how people can fall into such elaborate traps. However, it is important that people be more careful and not immediately believe everything they are told.