Carabinieri and Trieste Trasporti to stop scams against the elderly

The reports of scams against the elderly, easy victims of malicious people always ready to exploit their good faith and vulnerability to steal their savings or valuables. Although this is a national phenomenon, Trieste takes on a particularly significant and impactful character, given the demographic composition of the resident population.

Only since the beginning of this year and by the Carabinieri alone have the numerous reports of fraud consumed or attempted, for a total value of more than 300.000 euro.

It is not difficult to imagine the financial damage that this heinous crime causes at a national level, not forgetting the psychological consequences for the victims.

The techniques used are varied and increasingly sophisticated, making it difficult for victims to recognize the traps. Among the most common methods we find:

• scam of fake members of the police force or lawyer: a phone call from a fake member of the police force or a fake lawyer makes the victim believe that a relative of theirs has been involved in a car accident or has been arrested. The victim will be asked for a sum of money as compensation for providing medical or legal assistance to the loved one in difficulty. If the person being scammed accepts, the caller informs them that an assistant or a plainclothes Carabiniere will shortly go to the home to collect the cash;
• scam of fake representatives of supply companies: the scammer shows up at the victim's home pretending to be a representative of a utility company (water, electricity or gas), informing the victim of new and more advantageous contractual conditions. With this ploy, the criminal gains the victim's trust to collect their data, which is then used to open new contracts in their name but without their consent;
• fake nephew scam: scammers call the victim on the phone, starting the conversation with trick phrases such as “Guess who’s speaking!” or “Auntie, do you remember me?”. In this way they try to catch the name of a relative or acquaintance. Pretending to be this person, they say they urgently need money for serious reasons, but that they are unable to come and collect the money. If the victim accepts, the interlocutor says that a friend will come to the house shortly to collect the sum or invites the victim to make a transfer to their account;
• online scams: scams perpetrated over the Internet are becoming more and more frequent, with fake websites or emails that promise easy earnings or request personal data;
• call center scam: the scammer contacts the victim by phone, pretending to be a call center. The fake operator asks trivial questions to induce the victim to answer with a “yes”, which will then be extrapolated and used as a form of consent for the activation of a new supply contract. The victim realizes the scam when receiving the first bill.

It is easy to understand why the elderly are a easy goal

• confidence: Older people are often inclined to trust people, even strangers;
• solitude: many older people live alone and are more vulnerable to psychological manipulation;
• poor familiarity with new technologies: Online and telephone scams often target those who are unfamiliar with the internet and digital devices.

The response to the phenomenon must necessarily move on multiple levels. Without prejudice to the repressive contrast activity and therefore the investigative-judicial plan, much can and must be done to preventive level with the involvement of various actors, be they social or institutional.

The Arma also wants to give its contribution to stem the phenomenon. It has always done so through a continues to raise awareness by meeting the elderly in their meeting places, in parishes but also in centres dedicated to them. In this sense, the absolute protagonists of the social reassurance mission of the Arma are the Carabinieri Stations, which live in the communities, representing points of reference that are always present and reliable. This is why the Station Commanders:

• carry out Training sessions in places of worship, at municipal offices and care/recreational facilities for the elderly, with distribution of information leaflets;
• keep in touch with directors of credit institutions and post offices, to share information on suspicious cases;
• develop collaborations with local media and institutions to raise public awareness.

This time the Carabinieri of Trieste wanted to do something more by joining forces with other actors, first and foremost Trieste Transport who enthusiastically embraced the idea of produce informative videos to be projected on board buses and on luminous panels at bus stops in order to reach as many people as possible and thus make prevention activities more effective. In addition to this, a playbill which will be posted in all barracks, parishes, meeting places for the elderly, as well as a Folding brochure to be distributed to citizens.

All public and private entities in the province will be involved so that the awareness campaign can be widespread. In a clear and simple way, you will find advice on how to avoid falling victim to scams, including: be careful about opening the door to strangers, be wary of appearances, limit your confidence on the Internet.