Randazzo: 19-year-old defrauds an elderly lady with the “False Carabiniere” method but is caught red-handed, arrested

The Provincial Carabinieri Command of Catania is conducting a important and challenging campaign to raise awareness among citizens regarding the phenomenon of scams, often aimed at the elderly, since they are considered by criminals, with prejudice, to be more vulnerable. In this perspective, the various Carabinieri Departments of the Etna province have undertaken a communication path aimed at reaching the most vulnerable citizens, but also their families, the latter often fundamental for their support action in situations of difficulty or danger. A path made up of meetings, organised in a systematic and widespread way throughout the territory, in senior centres, in churches, before or after religious functions, and in various community centres, to reach the widest possible audience.

During the conferences, the Commanders of the Companies and Stations They describe the ways in which scammers operate, taking advantage of the victims' emotions, to whom they describe over the phone difficult situations involving their child or relative, asking for money to try to resolve the serious problem. This awareness and prevention activity is accompanied by that of firm repression of the illicit conduct of fraudsters, carried forward thanks to the continuous exchange of information between the Departments of the Carabinieri at various levels and the punctual and careful investigative impetus of the soldiers called to operate.

In this context, the Carabinieri of the Randazzo Company have discovered a scam committed against an elderly woman, arresting the scammer, a 19-year-old from Catania, with a criminal record, on the basis of evidence collected to be verified in court. The victim, an 86-year-old local woman, a widow, was contacted by telephone, with the "false Carabiniere method", from an interlocutor who had managed to convince her to hand over money, using a now well-known method, by staging a fake road accident in which her son was allegedly involved, with the request for a fake bail to avoid the arrest of the relative.

Scared and worried, the lady opened the door to the criminal, letting him enter the house and handing him over everything she had, namely 1000 euros, but the presence of the young man did not escape the neighbors who, suspicious, immediately warned their neighbor's son. The man, Therefore, he immediately asked the Carabinieri for help, on the emergency number 112, and a gazelle reached the old woman's house in a very short time, surprising the scammer still at home, with the 1000 euros in his pocket, and intent on convincing the victim to also hand over her jewels.

The boy, which was by the way already subjected to the precautionary measure of the obligation to reside in Catania for drug-related crimes, and therefore could not possibly have been in Randazzo, he was arrested for fraud and placed at the disposal of the Judicial Authority which, the act was validated, he ordered house arrest for him.