On the day of May 1st, the Carabinieri of the Company of aggravated scam – a 48 -year -old from Catania origin, already known to the police also for specific crimes, which, according to what was reconstructed by the investigators, with the now well -known scam of “Fake carabiniere” He would have contacted an elderly Santagatese woman by phone, referring to a phantom accident caused by the daughter with the consequent request of a sum of money that would shortly have passed to collect a lawyer.
The soldiers of the Radiomobile Section of Sant’Agata Militello intervened who, coordinated by the Operations Center who had received the reporting to the emergency number 112, near the victim’s home, intercepted and blocked the car conducted by the alleged criminal. In the immediacy of the facts, an investigation was started that made it possible to document a circumstantial framework against the 48 -year -old, as an alleged author of the crime. On man, the military found the sum of 5,000 euros which was the one delivered by the elderly victim to the alleged scammer.
The man has been arrested and is now under house arrest available to the judicial authority. The money was returned to the old woman.
The activity is part of the action of contrasting the departments of the provincial carabinieri command of Messina of the phenomenon of scams to the elderly, which has so far allowed, since 2024, to arrest 14 people through the activities of investigation and control of the territory. But to combat these scammers, the military of the weapon have long been carrying out information campaigns in favor of the possible victims of these serious crimes, in elderly centers, parishes and through the media, spreading advice to avoid the scams that have allowed more circumstances to thwart numerous scams, not successful.
What happened shows how important it is to talk about this phenomenon. Obviously, as the carabinieri repeat several times on the occasion of the meetings with the elderly on the theme of scams, first of all it is always necessary to specify that the police forces are absolutely not aimed at citizens asking for money or precious for alleged payments of deposits or other. In the event that you are contacted, it is essential to call 112 immediacy, both by those who have undergone an attempt at a scam and by those who, unfortunately, realized that they were a victim of it; The call to the emergency number can in fact allow the military of the weapon and the other police forces to intervene immediately and quickly identify the managers. The collaboration of the victims and all citizens informed on events or fraudulent situations often becomes indispensable.