A married couple from Lubin (an 85-year-old man and an 84-year-old woman) were approached around noon outside the stairwell of their apartment building by two women dressed in white, who offered to help the seniors carry their shopping into the flat. Once inside, they said they were nurses. They offered to give both of them a massage.
– They asked the elderly people to enter one of the rooms, stand facing the window with their backs to the door – reports asp. szt. Sylwia Serafin, press officer of the Lubin District Police Headquarters. – During the massage, they asked about their monthly medication costs, illnesses and the amount of their pensions. After the massage, which lasted about half an hour, the fraudsters quickly left the flat.
Around 4 p.m., the 85-year-old man realized that savings amounting to PLN 170,000 had disappeared from one of the cupboards. He immediately informed the police. It turned out that while the fake nurses were massaging the victims, their accomplice had ransacked the flat and stolen the money.
The spokeswoman said: – These are well-known methods used by fraudsters who invent various “stories” to gain entry to a flat and then, by distracting the resident, rob them. This case was similar.
How not to get scammed?
- Do not let strangers into your homes! (If you have elderly people in your family, talk to them about this whenever you have the opportunity and remind them that they must not let strangers into their flat or hand any money to strangers).
- Do not give money to anyone!
- Ask the person for their ID; if they have honest intentions, they will show you their identification. (It is best to verify the person’s details by calling the institution they work for).
- If you have any doubts, promptly inform the POLICE (call 112) about any suspicious person.
- REMEMBER! Employees of ZUS, NFZ or other government offices do not visit people in their homes. Not everyone who calls or knocks on the door has honest intentions.