"Your daughter ran over a little girl." Elderly woman defrauded: gold and money stolen

"Your daughter ran over a little girl." Words that sent an elderly woman from San Marino into a panic. On the other end of the line, a scammer, posing as a Gendarmerie officer, immediately took advantage of the woman's fear. Shortly thereafter, a man appeared at the woman's door. He was likely an accomplice of the person who had called the woman earlier. The man demanded money and jewelry from the woman, which would be used to convince the parents of the little girl who had been hit to withdraw their complaint. The woman, so frightened, immediately handed over the money and jewelry. But it didn't end there, because the man also managed to get the keys to the apartment of the woman's son, who lives in the same building. Once inside the second apartment, he also stole some jewelry, before fleeing with the loot. Once the fraud was confirmed, the woman contacted the Gendarmerie, which is investigating the incident.

This isn't the first time incidents of this kind have occurred in San Marino, and law enforcement continues to warn citizens. Nor is it the first time scammers have impersonated law enforcement officers. Such was the case of a San Marino family targeted late last year. "Your daughter ran over a pregnant woman, and it appears the baby is dead," the scammer said over the phone. But in that case, the husband intervened and, when he asked for more information about the accident, managed to trick one of the scammers into betraying him. Scammers were also on the run in Murata, a few months later. In that case, the terrifying phone call came to an 82-year-old woman from a supposed lawyer. "Your son was in an accident in Forlì and is now in court," the fake lawyer said. He anticipated that a bailiff would soon be knocking on her door in San Marino to collect the money needed to save her son from prison.

The elderly woman from San Marino hadn't thought twice about looking for the money needed to bring her son home immediately. Shortly after that call to the doorbell, a woman arrived to collect the money. But she hadn't counted on her daughter, who, worried, had gone to her mother's house. Only to discover that it was yet another terrible scam.