Rome, 29 Aug. (LaPresse) – Staged accidents, people posing as law enforcement officers, and demands for money and jewellery: over the past 48 hours, the Railway Police have intervened at Rome Termini station in two separate incidents of fraud targeting elderly people. In the first case, a young man had persuaded two women living in the province of Pordenone to hand over gold and valuables, claiming that a relative of theirs had been involved in a road accident and was in urgent need of money. After arranging for a taxi to take him to the station, the young man boarded a train in Venice bound for Naples. Thanks to the victims’ prompt report and investigations carried out by the Carabinieri – including the use of CCTV footage and a photograph taken by the taxi driver – it was possible to identify the train on which he was travelling. Once the Railway Police had been alerted, the man was tracked via CCTV and apprehended on board the train upon its arrival at Roma Termini. Around 100 items of jewellery made of gold and precious stones, weighing a total of almost 300 grams, were found in his rucksack and subsequently identified by the victims. The young man was arrested and taken to Regina Coeli Prison. The previous evening, again at Roma Termini, a scam targeting an 81-year-old woman from Trentino was foiled. The woman had been contacted by a man claiming to be a tax official, who had convinced her to travel to Rome carrying cash and valuables to resolve an alleged legal issue relating to her car. During the journey, a young passenger, who became suspicious of the woman’s telephone conversations, alerted the Railway Police. Plainclothes officers then assisted the elderly woman and accompanied her to the agreed location for the handover of the jewellery. The fraudster, who had probably realised the police were present, did not turn up, however. The woman was handed over to her family.
Rome, scams targeting the elderly: one arrest and a scam foiled at Termini
Rome, 29 Aug. (LaPresse) – Staged accidents, people posing as law enforcement officers, and demands for money and jewellery: over the past 48 hours, the Railway Police have intervened at Rome Termini station in two separate incidents of fraud targeting elderly people. In the first case, a young man had persuaded two women living in the province of Pordenone to hand over gold and valuables, claiming that a relative of theirs had been involved in a road accident and was in urgent need of money. After arranging for a taxi to take him to the station, the young man boarded a train in Venice bound for Naples. Thanks to the victims’ prompt report and investigations carried out by the Carabinieri – including the use of CCTV footage and a photograph taken by the taxi driver – it was possible to identify the train on which he was travelling. Once the Railway Police had been alerted, the man was tracked via CCTV and apprehended on board the train upon its arrival at Roma Termini. Around 100 items of jewellery made of gold and precious stones, weighing a total of almost 300 grams, were found in his rucksack and subsequently identified by the victims. The young man was arrested and taken to Regina Coeli Prison. The previous evening, again at Roma Termini, a scam targeting an 81-year-old woman from Trentino was foiled. The woman had been contacted by a man claiming to be a tax official, who had convinced her to travel to Rome carrying cash and valuables to resolve an alleged legal issue relating to her car. During the journey, a young passenger, who became suspicious of the woman’s telephone conversations, alerted the Railway Police. Plainclothes officers then assisted the elderly woman and accompanied her to the agreed location for the handover of the jewellery. The fraudster, who had probably realised the police were present, did not turn up, however. The woman was handed over to her family.