Torre Santa Susanna, Oria and Villa Castelli (Brindisi), carabinieri and elderly people together against scams: advice from the force.

Torre Santa Susanna, Oria and Villa Castelli (Brindisi), carabinieri and elderly people together against scams: advice from the force.

In recent days the Carabinieri of the Torre Santa Susanna, Oria and Villa Castelli stations, in view of the upcoming Christmas holidays, as part of the informative seminars for the dissemination of prevention of scams to the detriment of vulnerable victims promoted by the Carabinieri Provincial Command of Brindisi, held meetings in some local parishes, to provide some practical advice for older people to prevent possible scam attempts which, unfortunately, unscrupulous criminals try to implement to the detriment of the most vulnerable sections of the population, with the aim of misleading the elderly victims in order to take possession of cash or precious objects. With this in mind, the soldiers of the Carabinieri met over 250 people, explaining some of the most widespread methodologies and providing, at the same time, simple but effective suggestions on how to behave to avoid unpleasant situations that the unaware victim often becomes aware of. when it's too late.

Among the criminal modus operandi, some of the most frequent are:

- the fake road accident: the victim is contacted by telephone by an unknown person who introduces himself as a "lawyer" whose client has allegedly been involved in a car accident with the elderly person's nephew. This alleged lawyer then suggests to the elderly victim to pay a sum of money to resolve the issue quickly and without further more serious consequences, or by envisaging the obligation to pay a supposed "bail" due to the temporary "detention" of his nephew operated on by the police. Fraudsters therefore try to act by making the seriousness of what happened perceived, to the point of not allowing enough time to reflect on what is actually happening;
- the fake "friend" of the family: sometimes scammers know how to soften the elderly, leveraging their feelings, kindness, generosity and understanding; genuine feelings that are instead turned against them to induce them in good faith to "give away” sums of money to strangers who, having cleverly come into possession of some personal and family information of the designated victims and presenting themselves as "long-time friends" of the children or grandchildren, once gained the trust of the elderly interlocutor, persuade him to make a cash gift to be able to deal with fictitious economic problems, health expenses due to serious illnesses, the loss of a job or other problems of various kinds which, obviously, lead to a payment;
- an "urgent" postal package: the elderly person is contacted by telephone by an alleged employee of a post office or company that provides a home courier service, who communicates that, shortly, a collaborator will go to the elderly victim's home to deliver an "urgent" package, whose actual recipient would be the daughter or nephew who, for various reasons, has not yet been able to proceed with the payment; cause for which at the time of delivery the elderly person will inevitably have to pay the amount due. It is good to know that scammers leverage "urgency", as it induces the victim not to hesitate, instilling the doubt that the most important thing is not to risk losing the package;

- bank employees or members of the police force in plain clothes: of visits, when you are at home, you can receive many, but certainly not those from bank employees, whose services are only offered at branches, by correspondence, with credit cards and online. Particular attention, then, to those who say they are part of charitable or religious organizations, which, in an absolutely more credible way, give advance warning with messages in the letterbox and generally do not send volunteers to homes. Or again, one or more members of the police show up at the door, with a badge recognition to justify civilian clothes? Completely unusual behaviour: Carabinieri, Police and Financial Police operate at the homes in uniform and arrive there in service cars with institutional colours.

So we need to raise our guard and, before letting yourself be convinced, it is always better to take the time necessary to understand without haste whether what is asked or proposed by strangers is really legitimate, especially in view of the Christmas holidays now upon us, during which so-called volunteers of charities and parishes. So, never provide personal, personal and banking information by telephone, cjust as it is best not to open the front door immediately if you are not sure who is knocking/intercoming. Likewise, you need to pay attention and not risk getting distracted when two people or even more show up outside your home. Not only. Maintain good neighborly relations it is certainly a great tool to help each other. In all these cases, when you don't know what to do and you find yourself alone, it can be very useful to simply call a relative and ask for help or, better yet, call the Carabinieri on the emergency number 112 to receive a immediate telephone assistance and to have the support of a patrol who will be able to reach the home and carry out the necessary checks. A short calloften helps to avoid unpleasant surprises and this is why other meetings will also be held in the coming weeks, in order to establish a discussion with as many families and elderly people as possible, with a view to preventing the phenomenon.
It is important to lend the maximum attention, contacting the police in case of need, real or perceived, without hesitating to call 112. The number is free, we are always ready to help you.