Another scam targeting an elderly woman, another fraudulent phone call, another unscrupulous pair of criminals. Thanks to the intervention of the Carabinieri of the Bracciano mobile radio unit, a 31-year-old Bangladeshi man and a young Italian resident in the Naples metropolitan area were arrested.
Both are accused of carrying out a scam against a 94-year-old woman in Nepi, in the province of Viterbo.
The modus operandi is sadly well-known: the victim receives a phone call from a man pretending to be her nephew, using her real name, and telling her an urgent and worrying story.
In this case, the pretext was a fake electronic payment problem, which would have involved the postal police: to avoid the consequences, the woman would have had to pay 8.000 euros.
The 94-year-old is initially wary, but the voice on the other end of the phone is skilled, convincing, and insistent. She relents: she reveals she has €600 in cash, some jewelry—including her wedding ring—and her debit card. She is reassured: the gold will be put in a safe deposit box and everything will be returned to her.
Meanwhile, an accomplice is already near the house. The victim is instructed to put everything in a plastic bag—money, gold, ATM card, cell phone—and hand it over to a phantom "postal police officer" named Luca. A few minutes later, "Luca" shows up at the door and receives the bag.
But something is wrong. Some residents of Nepi notice two suspicious individuals in a gray Fiat 500X and alert the local station commander. A search begins: the car is intercepted by the Carabinieri of Bracciano in Campagnano. Inside, the two suspects and a purse containing €7.700 in cash, gold, a debit card, and a cell phone.
The investigation reconstructed the situation: immediately after the robbery, the scammers went to two ATMs, withdrawing €2.000 and €5.000 using the victim's card. Arrested red-handed, they are now being held in prison and are being held by the judicial authorities.
A hateful phenomenon that does not stop
What happened in Nepi is just the latest episode in a long trail of scams targeting the elderly that swept across the country. Fragile, often lonely, victims become ideal targets for a devious and organized crime network.
The damage is not only economic: there is a profound human trauma, as demonstrated by the symbolically violent act of taking away a wedding ring, laden with affection and memories.
The recommendation from law enforcement is always the same: do not trust alarmist phone calls, never give money or items to strangers, and above all, call 112 immediately if you have any suspicions.
The safety of older adults—at home, on the street, and on the phone—must remain a social priority.
Chronicles of Campania
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The Nepi incident is very sad and makes us reflect on how these scams spread. Elderly people are vulnerable and often don't know how to protect themselves. It's important that everyone is informed about these scams to prevent them from happening again.