In December 2021, the State Police and Confartigianato Imprese Ancona-Pesaro and Urbino presented the information campaign “Defend ourselves from scammers”, dedicated to raising awareness of the phenomenon of fraud against the elderly.
The peculiarity of the campaign lies in the fact that the brochure presented uses clear and concise language, speaking directly to the elderly and accompanying the seven suggestions from Ancona dialectal expressions.
The campaign intends to prevent by informing and raising awareness, to drastically reduce scams against the category of the elderly, hit by increasingly devious scammers.
The brochure will be distributed first of all in the parishes and in other centers of aggregation and later it will also be sent by post, in order to reach more and more people in this way. The guide will also be available in the offices of the trade association which will subsequently also disseminate information posters.
The President of the Anap Confartigianato territorial group, Claudio Maria Latini, stated that the attention on these prevention campaigns often diminishes and having a brochure that is simple to read and easy to keep nearby can be a great way to always remember how to act!
But prevention is also fundamental for another aspect, that is to always invite the elderly to report the episodes of which they are victims, given that very often older people do not bring them to the attention of the police and sometimes not even family members. scams they fall victim to. But without a complaint it becomes very difficult for the police to understand how the phenomena are evolving and it becomes almost impossible to identify the perpetrators of the scams. On a statistical level, the commissioner pointed out that online scams are now more numerous than those in the presence, also due to the health emergency.
Here are the tips in the booklet:
- Do not open your front door to strangers, even if they claim to be employees of public companies and wear a uniform.
- Never stop on the street to listen to those who offer you easy money or who ask you to be able to check your money or pension book, even if they are distinguished and kind.
- Don’t believe those who say they are friends with your children or other relatives and ask you for money.
- Get accompanied (if you can) when you withdraw or deposit money at the bank or post office.
- If you are out, don’t stop with strangers and don’t get distracted.
- If you suffer a scam do not be ashamed, these things happen, and report immediately. We need your help to find out who is responsible.
- If some stranger calls you to ask for news, don’t say anything about yourself and your habits.
https://www.anap.it/mini-sito/ancona/notizia/campagna-difendiamoci-dai-truffatori