BOLZANO. The Carabinieri of Bolzano arrested yesterday afternoon (August 6) a swindler who was pretending to be a Carabiniere to deceive elderly people. The man was tracked down in via Cologna. Together with an accomplice, he had just robbed an elderly lady, pretending to be a police marshal to extort valuables and money worth approximately 38,000 euros.
The woman, at home with her husband, had been contacted by telephone by a man who identified himself as a Carabinieri marshal and who informed her of an alleged road accident caused by the couple’s son. While the husband was supposed to go to the Carabinieri station for some fictitious urgent communications, the wife was then contacted by a fake Police Headquarters operator, who asked her to hand over money and jewelry as a deposit to compensate the victim of the accident.
After delivering a Cartier watch, two gold rings, four diamond rings and 190 euros in cash to a young man who showed up at the door, the woman began to suspect she had been scammed and immediately contacted her son, who alerted the Carabinieri, already present in the area with several patrols for prevention services.
Thanks to the timeliness of the report and the intervention of the Carabinieri, the man was stopped shortly after with all the stolen goods in his possession. The accomplice, described as a man of about 30 years old with shaved hair and a large goatee, managed to disappear into the city traffic. However, thanks to subsequent investigations and the use of facial recognition tools, the man, with specific precedents, was identified by the military and reported.