San Gregorio di Catania: Attempted Fraud on the Elderly Avoided Thanks to Preventive Conferences by the Carabinieri.

Thanks to the preventive conferences organized by the Provincial Carabinieri Command of Catania, another attempted scam against an elderly woman was foiled in recent days.

The Provincial Carabinieri Command of Catania has long since launched an important and challenging campaign to raise awareness among citizens regarding the phenomenon of scams, often aimed at the elderly, since criminals believe them to be more vulnerable.
In this context, the Carabinieri of the Etna Province have undertaken a communication path aimed at older citizens, but also at their families, for their support action, often fundamental in difficult or dangerous situations like this one.
A path divided into meetings held by the Commanders of the Companies and Stations in senior centers and churches, made possible thanks to the precious support of the Dioceses of Catania, Acireale and Caltagirone, which allowed the Arma to dialogue with the faithful before or after religious functions.

Also fundamental was the contribution of the newspapers, which spread information through press releases and interviews broadcast on the main local and regional television channels.
During the meetings, which are continually repeated to reach the largest possible number of recipients, the military personnel of the Arma, appropriately trained, describe the methods through which the scammers operate, focusing on the emotions of the victims, to whom they describe over the phone difficult situations of their child or relative, asking for money to try to resolve the serious problem.

And it is precisely thanks to the preventive conferences organized by the Carabinieri at the San Gregorio di Catania municipal senior citizens' center, in the presence of the Commander of the Gravina di Catania Company, Captain Riccardo Capodivento, and the Commander of the local Carabinieri Station, Lieutenant Giuseppe Cunsolo, that an attempted scam against an elderly woman was foiled in recent days.
The incident took place at the home of the elderly lady in San Gregorio di Catania, who received a phone call on her landline number, where the person calling, without specifying in what capacity he was calling her and remaining vague and ambiguous about his qualifications, always using professional and fluent language to gain credibility, informed the woman that her son had shortly before run over a pedestrian who was crossing the road, causing the latter serious injuries;
the son would have been arrested for this reason, and his release would have required the payment of a cash bail.
The elderly lady fortunately, recognizing the warning signs described a few days ago during the meeting, hung up the phone and immediately rushed to the local Carabinieri Station still very shaken, explaining what had happened to the soldiers present, who after having reassured her and put her at ease, carried out the necessary actions.
The woman, of course, was immediately reassured by the staff at the barracks, who, after reassuring her about the perfect health conditions of her son, began the investigations to identify the criminals.

The recommendations are always the same: “contact the Carabinieri”, be wary of appearances, do not open the door to strangers, verify the identity of anyone who shows up, do not provide sensitive data, be careful with deliveries, do not give sums of money or other goods to strangers, be wary of door-to-door purchases and report any suspicious cases to the authorities.