Scammers drove around “looking for likely victims“
PSP police report today that at least 11 elderly people have fallen victim to a fake accident scam.
The modus operandi involves people “driving a vehicle on public roads to find a possible victim, preferably someone of advanced age”.
Once a victim is decided on, the scammers approach the victim, claiming that moments earlier they were hit by the victim’s vehicle. They then “convince or forced the victim to pay a sum of money to cover the ‘damages’”.
In a statement today, Lisbon’s Metropolitan Command (Cometlis) of the PSP explains that it executed six search and seizure warrants earlier this week – two in Lisbon, one in Queluz, one in Caneças, one in Vialonga and the last in Ponta Delgada, in the Azores.
The force also arrested two men, aged 24 and 20, following the issuance of two arrest warrants for offences committed ‘outside flagrante delicto’.
Describing the way in which this group acted, the statement said that victims were either asked to pay up front, in cash, or if they needed more time, they would persuade the victim to transfer money from their bank account to an account associated with one of the suspects.
“We identified this phenomenon at the beginning of this year, and after several investigations, we identified the group that was repeatedly engaged in this practice.
“During the criminal activity they carried out, they managed to steal sums of money from the victims, amounting to €60,000.
Authorities have identified 11 victims so far, but they are aware that more people may come forwards
On average, each victim was defrauded of amounts ranging from €1,500 to €5,000.
One of the scams perpetrated on an elderly man resulted in the illegal appropriation of around €25,000, “which his children stopped as soon as they realised that money was being withdrawn from their father’s bank account,” says the PSP statement.
During house searches on Wednesday, the PSP seized several documents, including information on cash flows, two 7.62 millimetre calibre bullets suitable for use in military weapons, and €2,550 in cash.
In addition to the two men arrested, the PSP has also charged two other men and a woman.
The take-out from this story is that anyone approached by someone alleging an accident (that they are unaware has happened) should call police, and not enter into any kind of conversation.
Source material: LUSA
