While dismantling a network of scammers, investigators discovered an instruction manual for successfully extracting money from elderly people in distress.
To make as many victims as possible, most scammers develop a plan, often well-crafted, with precise instructions. This could be emails or SMS messages to send, specific sentences to say or even pretending to be a professional or a company. In general, criminals are cunning and will try anything to gain the trust of their next victim. Result: many times, when a person realizes that they are the victim of a scam, they admit to having noticed nothing. This is particularly the case for elderly people, who are the preferred targets, whether online or in the street. But then, how do they go about achieving their success?
For several months, the Italian police in Rome investigated a group of scammers, who particularly preyed on seniors. Recently, they arrested 17 people for fraud and extortion. The network was active in the cities of Rome, Naples, Latina and Viterbo, between September 13, 2022 and March 20, 2023. During the searches, the Italian carabinieri got their hands on evidence that was crucial to say the least: the police manual. instructions from the scammers.
This type of information is indeed essential for understanding the schemes of scammers and trying to anticipate their future scams. In this unpublished document, the Italian authorities discovered in detail the sentences which were said to the victims. According to investigators, the plan was always the same. One contacted an elderly person on the telephone via the white pages, and pretended to be an insurer, a lawyer or a police officer. He then made him believe that a member of his family had a debt to pay to recover a package, because he had caused a road accident, and that the senior had to give him money or jewelry to help him . Subsequently, an accomplice came to collect what was requested from the victims’ homes.
During the telephone conversation, the individual read a specific text, which played on the victim’s affect. Here is an example : “Stefano Law Firm, I tried to call your landline, but it rang busy. Have you heard from the police about your nephew ? Don’t you know? … I’m in my car heading to the police station, I felt that your loved one was very scared. I called his insurance for the damage caused. The problem with insurance is that payments are always slow to be made.” can we read in one of the photos taken from the manual by the carabinieri. After saying these sentences, the scammer asked the elderly person to advance the money in cash and together they agreed to a meeting to make the exchange. And that’s when the net closed against the victim.