Naples – A 21-year-old man has been arrested for a scam targeting an elderly person, using a devious technique that increasingly targets the most vulnerable segments of the population.
The arrest, carried out red-handed by the State Police, took place in the heart of the San Giovanni a Teduccio neighborhood, thanks to a coordinated check between law enforcement and Poste Italiane staff.
The young man, under special surveillance by the Naples Cybersecurity Operations Center, was intercepted while loitering near a post office ATM. Upon checking him, officers found a bundle of Postepay cards on him. One of these cards, in particular, had already been targeted by police for a previous attempted scam on elderly people for approximately €20.000.
But the surprise came when checking the movements: two transfers of 4 had just arrived in the suspect's account, a few minutes earlier.
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The alarm was raised by a report that allowed the reconstruction of the scam, which was carried out using spoofing and vishing techniques. Essentially, the scammer manipulated the caller's number so that the phone of the pensioner, who lives in the province of Modena, displayed the real number for the Modena Carabinieri station.
Upon answering, the elderly man found himself speaking to a man posing as a member of the Carabinieri. Using the pretext of supposedly urgent security reasons, the fake Carabiniere convinced the victim to transfer his savings, totaling €9.000, to a bank account presented as belonging to the police force. This fraud exploits trust in institutions to target those who are less tech-savvy.
The police's prompt action allowed them to immediately freeze the funds stolen from the pensioner, which were still in the suspect's account. The money is now awaiting seizure by the judicial authorities, who will then order its return to its rightful owner.
The incident, the result of daily checks at post offices to prevent and curb scams, serves as yet another warning: never trust anyone asking for money or personal information over the phone, even if the number on the display appears authentic. Law enforcement never requests money transfers over the phone. In these cases, the rule is simple: hang up and call the official number of the Carabinieri station or the police headquarters to verify.
Comments (1)
It's incredible how people can be scammed so easily, especially the elderly, who are more vulnerable. The police have done a good job, but more information is needed to prevent these dangerous situations.