They pretended to be carabinieri or lawyers, with a well-rehearsed staging that played on the fear and emotionality of their victims: lonely elderly people, often disoriented, always defenseless. Six people, believed to be members of a criminal organization based in Campania, were hit by precautionary measures issued by the investigating judge of Verbania after a thorough investigation by the provincial carabinieri command. Two of them were sent to prison, while two others are under house arrest and the last two are under the obligation to sign in.

The investigation began last September after some scams in Domodossola, in Verbano-Cusio-Ossola. From there, the military reconstructed 23 episodes in eight different regions, including Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto, Liguria, Lazio, Puglia, Valle d'Aosta, Emilia Romagna and Calabria. The modus operandi was always the same: an alarming phone call, often from a self-styled carabiniere or lawyer, who warned the victim of an alleged accident involving a relative. The request was immediate: money or jewelry to "fix everything."

The system was orchestrated by the “telephone operators”, two men living in Naples, identified as the leaders of the group. The “operational batteries”, composed of four other individuals from Caivano, Aversa and Grumo Nevano, set out every day for new cities in search of targets. During the operations, two members were arrested red-handed in Latina and Modena, with 2000 euros in cash in his pocket and half a kilo of gold in recently stolen jewelry.