Giugliano – They introduced themselves over the phone as bank officials, spoke with a confident voice, and knew names, account numbers, and even the latest transactions. It took little, just a handful of minutes, and the life savings disappeared from the accounts of dozens of victims, mostly elderly.
Using this banking spoofing technique, an organized gang based between Giugliano in Campania and Naples had set up a sophisticated and ruthless cyber fraud system.
The Carabinieri operation: eleven precautionary measures
This morning, the Carabinieri of the Giugliano in Campania Company, acting on orders from the North Naples Prosecutor's Office, executed eleven precautionary custody orders: ten in prison and one under house arrest.
The order was issued by the investigating judge of the Court of Naples North, at the request of the Prosecutor's Office, following a detailed investigation that revealed the details of a criminal group engaged in aggravated fraud, receiving stolen goods, forgery, and the improper use of payment instruments.
The investigation, conducted by the military in collaboration with American Express, Leroy Merlin, and several banking institutions—including Poste Italiane, PayPal, Intesa Sanpaolo, UniCredit, and BNP Paribas—has uncovered a disturbing picture of serial scams in the Naples metropolitan area.
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Data stolen from the Dark Web and victims chosen by age
The criminal group, according to what was discovered, purchased lists of sensitive data on the Dark Web: names, telephone numbers, bank accounts, and spending habits.
At that point, using an almost industrial method, the scammers selected their victims based on age, favoring older people, considered more vulnerable and easily manipulated.
The first contact occurred with phishing messages—text messages or emails reporting alleged anomalous charges or security blocks—accompanied by fake links that faithfully reproduced the websites of banks and credit institutions.
Once the victim fell into the trap, the second step was the phone call: the scammer pretended to be a bank operator and, in a reassuring tone, convinced the person to provide codes, PIN and OTP, pretending to help them "recover" the stolen money.
Phantom purchases: appliances and building materials resold illegally
Using the codes they obtained, the scammers made large purchases on the Leroy Merlin website, purchasing air conditioners, boilers, drills, and electrical cables.
The goods, often ordered in large quantities, were collected the same day from the Giugliano store by a network of compliant couriers and resold on the black market to trusted fences.
In other cases, the scam took an even more subtle form: the suspects convinced the victims to move the "still safe" money to accounts labeled as security, which in reality belonged to front men for the criminal group. The investigation and the seizure: 22 scams confirmed and over 150 euros recovered.
The investigation allowed us to reconstruct 22 incidents of fraud and to block numerous others thanks to the timely intervention of the Carabinieri.
During the searches, computers, telephones, and IT devices used in the illicit operations were seized, along with cash and luxury watches with a total value of more than 150 euros.
The scenario that emerged was defined by investigators as "highly alarming," not only because of the scale of the scams but also because of the methodical nature of the organization, which operated like a true criminal enterprise, with specific roles, shifts, and skills.
The shadow of senior scams: a growing plague
According to data collected by the provincial Carabinieri command, scams targeting the elderly are now one of the most widespread emergencies in Campania.
Over the past two years, there has been a 30% increase in cases related to spoofing and phishing, with economic damages that in some cases exceeded 100 thousand euros per single victim.
A phenomenon that combines traditional crime and technology, and that exploits the trust, loneliness, and fear of the elderly as new weapons.
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