Torre Santa Susanna and Erchie: Carabinieri and elderly people together against domestic and telephone scams.

The Commander of the Carabinieri Company of Francavilla Fontana, together with the Commanders of the Carabinieri Stations of Torre Santa Susanna and Erchie, as part of the information seminars for the dissemination of prevention of scams to the detriment of vulnerable victims, launched continuously since October 2023 and promoted by Brindisi Provincial Carabinieri Command held three meetings, respectively at the Church of Santa Lucia in Erchie and in the centers for the elderly “AUSER” located in Torre Santa Susanna and in the municipality of Erchie, to provide some practical advice especially to older citizens, but also to family members, to know and be able to prevent any scam attempts that, unfortunately, unscrupulous criminals try to implement against the most vulnerable of the population, with the intention of misleading the elderly victims in order to obtain cash or precious objects.

With this in mind, the soldiers of the Carabinieri met around 150 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 suggesting the obligation to pay an alleged "bail" due to the temporary "arrest" of the nephew carried out 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 family “friend”: sometimes scammers know how to soften the elderly, leveraging their feelings, kindness, generosity and understanding; genuine feelings which are instead turned against them to induce them in good faith to "give" sums of money to strangers who, having cleverly come into possession of some personal and family information of the intended victims and presenting themselves as "long-standing friends" of the children or grandchildren, once they have gained the trust of the elderly interlocutor, persuade him to make a cash gift in order 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, induce 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, the actual recipient of which 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, does one or more members of the police show up at the door, with an identification card to justify the 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;

– messages delivered to your mobile phone from unknown numbers, in which the sender pretends to be the son or grandson of the elderly person, reporting that he or she has lost the phone and has necessarily had to change the number, inviting the recipient of the text message to click on a link contained in the message with the fictitious pretext of store the new mobile user in the address book.

Pay attention to such messages and categorically avoid clicking on such links, as they actually contain viruses that allow scammers to steal sensitive data, passwords, access codes to email addresses and bank accounts from phones;

– called CDs. “one ring”, coming from unknown users whose users resort to a single ring on the mobile number of the recipient who, often, out of curiosity, contacts the mobile user again, not yet aware of the fact that in reality it is a method of scam which involves a telephone callback by the victim, to the detriment of whom huge costs and commissions are charged for making the call.

So we need to raise our guard and, before letting ourselves be convinced, it is always better to take the time necessary to understand without haste whether what is being asked or proposed by strangers is really legitimate.

Therefore, never provide personal, personal or banking information by telephone, just as it is best not to open the front door immediately if you are not sure who is knocking/intercoming.

Likewise, it is necessary to pay attention and not risk getting distracted when two people or even more show up outside the house. Not only. Maintaining good neighborly relations is certainly an excellent tool for helping 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 emergency number 112 to receive 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 call often 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 massive prevention of the phenomenon.

It is important to pay maximum attention, contacting the police in case of need, real or perceived, without hesitating to call 112.

The number is toll-free, we are always ready to help you.