A 19-year-old Neapolitan man arrested for attempting to defraud an elderly couple in Piedmont.

In Carmagnola, a couple aged 63 and 68 avoided a scam orchestrated by a 19-year-old man posing as a Carabiniere. The man contacted the couple by phone, claiming their car had been involved in thefts, attempting to raise an alarm and gain access to their home under the pretext of examining their jewelry.

The husband was persuaded to go to the police station, leaving his wife alone at home, where the fake policeman showed up to verify the origin of the valuables. However, the woman's prompt response in alerting her sister-in-law and attempting to call 112 allowed the real police to be alerted.

A patrol from the Vinovo station, dispatched from the Moncalieri operations center, arrived in time to catch the young man, a resident of Naples. He was arrested red-handed on charges of attempted aggravated fraud.

The case highlights how frequent scam attempts based on impersonating law enforcement remain, with the aim of exploiting victims' fears to break into homes and steal money or valuables.