Oria: Carabinieri and elderly people together against domestic and telephone scams. 

In Oria, at the Sanctuary of San Cosimo alla Macchia, the Carabinieri of the Carabinieri Company of Francavilla Fontana, as part of the informative seminars for the prevention of scams against vulnerable victims, promoted by the Provincial Carabinieri Command of Brindisi, held a meeting at the end of the Eucharistic celebration to provide some practical advice especially to the less young citizens, but also to the families, to know and be able to prevent any attempts of scam that, unfortunately, unscrupulous criminals try to implement against the most vulnerable segments of the population, with the intent of misleading the elderly victims to take possession of cash, or valuable objects.

With this in mind, around 200 people participated in the meeting, held by Captain Alessandro Genovese, Commander of the Francavilla Fontana Company, who illustrated some of the most widespread methodologies; at the same time, simple but effective suggestions were provided on how to behave to avoid unpleasant situations which, often, the unaware victim realizes when it is 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 matter quickly and without further more serious consequences, or by suggesting the obligation to pay a presumed "bail" due to the temporary "arrest" of the nephew by the police. The scammers therefore try to act by making the seriousness of the incident perceived to be so serious that it does not allow sufficient 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 your phones.

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, you need to pay attention and not risk getting distracted when two people or even more show up outside your home. 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 the emergency number 112 to receive immediate telephone help. 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.