Fake inspector targetted OAPs

Police arrest five members of a gang that stole from elderly women while pretending to be electricity inspectors.

CARTAGENA National Police arrested, last week, five members of a gang that stole from elderly women while pretending to be electricity inspectors

he five arrested, three men and two women were from Alicante, San Vicente and Villena. With their arrest, the National Police have solved twelve thefts that took place in Cartagena, Castellón, Elche, Valencia and Zamora, although it is likely that the gang were involved in numerous other thefts throughout the country.

Police started to investigate after an 83-year-old woman in Cartagena reported, last October, that some fake electricity company technicians had stolen jewellery worth €12,000 and €1,400 in cash from her home.

A court order was obtained to put a tap on the culprit’s phones, which allowed the police to clear up other thefts committed by the same gang.

According to the police report, the gang always used the same methods.

First, one of the women would phone up the potential victim to make an appointment for electricity, or in some cases, gas inspectors to visit their homes.

The victims were carefully chosen, all elderly women over 80, living on their own.

The gang's activity was definitely intense,. as they made more than 6000 calls on their phones, the majority to select their victims. On making contact, they would say that a problem had been detected with the victim's electricity meters or supply, or an inspection was required. An appointment would then be made for the fake technicians or inspectors to visit the victim’s home.

The first woman to report a theft stated she received a call to tell her that two Iberdrola technicians would be visiting her home, as there seemed to be a fault with her meter.

The fake technicians turned up at her door at the same time that she received a call from one of the women who had her occupied on the phone while the two men stole what they could from her home. The two men said they were off to look at the main electricity meter and then disappeared. This is when the woman discovered they had stolen her jewellery and €1,400 in cash.

Police discovered that the two telephone lines the gang were making the calls were registered to an Ecuadorian man and a Chinese woman, who were not involved in any way with the gang or the thefts.

In fact, these lines were used to avoid the police catching up with them.

In Elche, another 84-yearold woman had €600, jewellery and a gold watch stolen from her home, by a technician who said she could enjoy a cheaper electricity tariff if he adjusted the meter.

Another 83-year-old from Cartagena was told that the electricity company had detected she was using too much electricity, so she was charged up front a €600 down payment by the imposters to fix her meter, and was told that in all repairs would cost €2,200.

Another woman in Valencia had her credit card stolen, which was used to withdraw €1,100 from ATM machines. A victim in Castellon had her stolen jewellery sold to gold buyers in Torrevieja.

The gang members were arrested in Alicante, Villena and a Madrid hostel were two of them were looking for new victims.

All five gang members have been accused of theft, fraud, identity theft and belonging to a criminal organisation. Three were sent directly to prison, while another two were allowed out on bail.