Forty thousand euros. It is the amount that a gang of criminals - now identified and subject to precautionary measures - tried to extract from as many elderly people with the so-called "fake policeman scam".

The victims - one in the province of Varese, the other two in Calabria - were contacted by a telephone operator, who, posing as a soldier, "warned" them of the arrest of a relative. Then the accomplices went into action, monitoring the movements of the unfortunate people or presenting themselves at their homes as "lawyers", ready to deal with the case and, obviously, to collect large sums as "security" for the family member's return to freedom.

The police - the real ones - discovered the fraudulent ploy and, on orders from the Palmi Prosecutor's Office, arrested two fraudsters from the association in the act and then tracked down and nailed their accomplices, all residing in Ponticelli (Naples).

At the moment there are three precautionary measures issued by the judiciary.

(Unioneonline)