Catania, elderly man defrauded: two Neapolitan women reported

Catania – The State Police of Catania has unmasked a sophisticated insurance fraud scheme implemented by two Neapolitan women, aged 34 and 46, who specialize in targeting the elderly throughout Italy.

The investigations, conducted by the agents of the Borgo-Ognina Police Station, were triggered by the complaint of a 76-year-old man from Catania, who fell into the scammers' net after searching online for convenient car insurance.

The victim had entered his personal information, including his telephone number and personal details, on a website dedicated to insurance contracts, in an attempt to find a good-priced car insurance policy.

A few days later, the man was contacted by a so-called consultant from a well-known insurance company, who offered him a policy for 460 euros, well below market rates. Convinced by the offer, the 76-year-old followed the instructions to make a transfer to an account indicated by the fake operator, waiting to receive the policy by email within a few hours.

After two days without news, the elderly man contacted the "consultant" again, who justified the delay with an alleged problem in the transfer, inviting him to repeat the payment by dividing it into two transfers of 260 and 200 euros to a new IBAN. Still trusting, the man carried out the operations, but never received the policy.

Having realised the scam, he went to the Borgo-Ognina Police Station, providing the investigators with essential details, such as the telephone number used by the scammer and the IBAN codes of the bank transfers.

The investigations led to the two women being traced, already known for numerous precedents related to similar scams. According to investigators, the suspects would have orchestrated a fraud ring that brought in around 10.000 euros a month, exploiting the vulnerability of the elderly through false insurance offers. The two Neapolitans were reported for fraud and now risk a sentence of up to 5 years in prison.

The Police urge citizens to be wary of overly advantageous insurance offers and to always check the reliability of websites and contacts before making payments. The operation represents a further step in the fight against online scams, a growing phenomenon that especially affects the most vulnerable segments of the population.