Avellino – They asked for change bills Small denominations of 50 or 100 euros, but during the counting, they managed, with a lightning-fast move, to make some of it disappear. This is the fraudulent technique used by two Romanian citizens, aged 38 and 35, to defraud several merchants and fuel station owners in the Avellino area before being arrested by the Carabinieri in Atripalda.
The police's swift investigation allowed them to reconstruct the scam's mechanism. The two men would show up at the cash register with a seemingly innocuous request: to exchange small bills for higher denominations. While the victim counted the money, the scammers would take advantage of a moment of distraction to steal a portion of the sum, stealing between 400 and 500 euros each time. They also used the same technique to steal the manager of a gas station, managing to make off with 540 euros.
In just a few days, the two had amassed a loot of over €6. At the time of their arrest, the Carabinieri recovered €4.300 in cash, which they already had. Both were arrested and will face charges of aggravated fraud. Investigations are continuing to determine whether there are other unaware victims of the scam.
The situation is really bad, but I don't think it's just those Romanians' fault. The merchants should have checked their accounts better and been more careful when exchanging bills. Because people count quickly and get distracted, the scammers then took advantage and made off with money without anyone noticing.