The elderly, "preferred targets" of thefts by trickery in Paris

• In 2021, in Paris, around "a thousand" people, "nearly half of whom were over 75", were victims of theft by trickery in their homes.

• To combat this delinquency, the City of Paris and the police headquarters launched an awareness campaign on July 5.

• If this campaign will “be long-term”, it is launched at the beginning of the summer, “when the elderly are often more isolated, with empty buildings and absent neighbors”.

A bogus parcel delivery man who wants you to pay a non-existent tax, a bogus electrician who comes to check your connections, a bogus bank adviser who wants to know your account number after an alleged suspicious transaction... In terms of fraud and theft, the imagination has no limit.

And in the majority of cases, these scammers do not choose their victims at random and specifically target the elderly.

To fight against this phenomenon, the Paris City Hall and the police headquarters launched an awareness campaign for seniors this week.

“False quality” flights

And for good reason, "our elders are the preferred targets of thefts by trickery", explains the Paris police headquarters (PP) to

.

The capital has 170,000 people over the age of 75, including 84,000 living alone.

A figure that has not escaped the thugs.

In 2021, nearly “a thousand” people were victims of home fraud in 2021, more than “half of them were over 75”, indicates the prefecture.

If the year 2022 is no exception to the rule, with 358 victims as of June 30 – mostly elderly people – it is 200 less than at the same period last year.

“The year 2021 was marked by the health crisis, the elderly were even more isolated than usual, this encouraged this delinquency, in particular with the scams at Covid”, analyzes the police services.

This scam, the police services have dubbed it the “Covid tax phenomenon”.

The thieves come to the homes of the elderly as delivery men.

Upon delivery of the package – which the victim obviously never ordered – they demand the payment of a special tax, supposedly put in place since the health crisis, by credit card, to obtain the code of the scammed .

“These are “false quality” thefts, that is to say that the thieves usurp the function of someone else, a plumber, a delivery man, an electrician”, deciphers the deputy (PS) from the mayor of Paris to security, Nicolas Nordman, at

.

"They take advantage of the gullibility and isolation of the elderly to break into their homes and rob them," he adds.

“The imagination of these crooks is limitless”

When we speak of "theft by trickery", we obviously think of the fake plumber who uses a water leak as an excuse to break into his victim's home and steal a credit card, cash or jewellery.

But other scams exist, such as that of the "neighbor who has just moved into the building and who enters the victim's home to supposedly get to know each other, before stealing something", continues Nicolas Nordman.

Less known, the Paris police headquarters has identified that of "the perfect employee".

“The victim comes out of a store where she did her shopping.

A person, claiming to work in the establishment, introduces himself and tells him that the payment transaction did not work.

The scammer then presents him with an electronic payment terminal (TPE) and tells him that reintroducing his card,

Town halls, police stations, social landlords or places welcoming an elderly public… The City of Paris has been distributing, since July 5, leaflets with prevention messages and information on the steps to take after a theft or an attack.

With this campaign, the authorities hope to remind our elders of the vigilance instructions.

"The imagination of these crooks is limitless, seniors must be alerted", continues Nicolas Nordman, who recalls a few basic rules: never open to someone you do not know or never give their number. blue card.

Our file on the elderly

And the summer period was not chosen at random for the launch of the campaign, explains the Paris police headquarters, which adds all the same that the operation is intended to "be part of the duration".

“It is often during this period that the elderly are most isolated, their families have gone on vacation, they have fewer visitors, there are fewer people in their building or fewer neighbors and often the guardians themselves. are on leave, ”adds the PP.

Prevention and support

But the operation is not limited solely to prevention.

"The idea is to be able to intervene at any time, in particular by accompanying the oldest after a theft or a scam", deciphers Nicolas Nordman, explaining that the elderly can ask to be accompanied to file a complaint. if they are victims.

“Often it is a psychological trauma, sometimes even physical.

There is a form of guilt for having been tricked, for not being suspicious, it is not always easy for the elderly to file a complaint, ”continues the deputy.

And the Paris City Hall is not stopping there with the renewal, this summer, of the “Tranquillité seniors” operation.

“The elderly can for example ask to be accompanied by agents of the town hall to go and withdraw money from the distributor”, concludes the elected official.

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Miscellaneous facts

North: She helped the elderly to better strip them

• Miscellaneous facts

• Paris

• Senior

• Scam

• Flight

• Delinquency

• The elderly

• Security

• Ile-de-France