Naples – The Carabinieri have successfully completed a major operation against scams targeting elderly people. Carabinieri officers from the Genoa San Martino station, with the support of their colleagues in Naples, executed a house arrest warrant issued by the Genoa Preliminary Investigations Judge at the request of the Genoa Prosecutor's Office.
The suspect, currently under precautionary custody in Naples, is seriously suspected of aggravated fraud and attempted fraud against the elderly. The indictment alleges a total of three criminal incidents, two completed and one attempted, committed between December 2024 and February 2025 in the cities of Genoa, Portogruaro (Venice), and Bientina (Pisa).
The loot and the modus operandi
During the three robberies, the victims were robbed of cash, gold, and jewelry. Investigations conducted by the Carabinieri allowed them to reconstruct the man's precise role within the criminal organization: that of a "traveler" or "courier," a person responsible for physically visiting the homes of elderly people to collect cash and other valuables.
The scam always followed the same tried-and-true script: an accomplice, referred to by investigators as a "telephone operator," would contact the victim by phone, posing as a law enforcement official or a lawyer. During the call, the caller would inform the elderly man that a close relative had caused a serious car accident with injuries.
At that point, the scam began: the victim was informed that their relative had been arrested and that to secure their immediate release, they had to hand over money or jewelry to a supposed member of the police force or a court delegate. In reality, the person who showed up at the door was none other than the arrested "traveler."
Investigative activity
The investigations allowed investigators to identify several suspicious phone numbers used to commit the scams. Analysis of the phone records revealed that these numbers were associated with numerous different mobile devices, allowing them to identify the suspect.
The Carabinieri also meticulously reconstructed the man's interactions and movements, verifying his use of taxis and trains on dates and times consistent with the places and times when the scams were committed or attempted. This investigative work provided crucial evidence linking the suspect to the individual criminal incidents.
Source EDITORIAL TEAM
Comments (1)
The article talks about a major operation by the Carabinieri, but I don't understand how they're so good at catching scammers. There are so many people who suffer without help, and it seems strange to me.