• A man in his 40s has been taken into police custody after imagining his son had an alleged illness in order to obtain free football shirts from clubs.

  • The child was presented as having alleged leukemia, to others a heart disease.

  • At this stage, the suspect's motives have not been established.

Sad story.

A man in his forties admitted during police custody that he had broadcast videos of his son claiming an illness to receive football shirts, we learned on Friday from the Toulon prosecutor's office.

The signal came from one of his neighbors who filed a complaint for identity theft.

The prosecution then decided to open a broader investigation for fraud, detailed the public prosecutor of Toulon, Samuel Finielz.

The respondent, without a profession, "recognizes the facts and relied on videos of his son presenting an imaginary illness and addresses in the neighborhood to receive jerseys", he explained.

A video with a football goalkeeper

Searches were carried out at his home in La Garde (Var), in the suburbs of Toulon, and "a certain number of jerseys were found".

Passionate supporter?

Collector ready for anything or animated by the hope of reselling these jerseys for a profit?

At this stage, the suspect's motives have not been established.

Several neighbors of the suspect were allegedly victims of identity theft.

And the prosecutor calls for "stopping all harassment" with these people, some of whom have since been victims of an "electronic assault".

Several club communication managers have claimed to be victims of this scam in recent days, starting with the National club of Bourg-en-Bresse.

Thomas Félix, the communication manager of Football Bourg-en-Bresse Péronnas 01, indicated on Twitter that he had identified "more than 20 clubs" contacted by the suspect.

"There are even some who had discussions for six months and even made a video call with their caretaker to hear from the child".

To some, the child had been presented as having so-called leukemia, to others a heart disease, indicated on Twitter the communication officer of Quevilly Rouen Métropole (Ligue 2).

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From Toulon to Marseille, the chase ends at the police station

  • Miscellaneous facts

  • Scam

  • Soccer

  • Jersey

  • Sickness

  • Paca

  • Sport