Piacenza, two Sicilians arrested for extortion at gold-buying shops: 100,000 euros in gold
The Mobile Squad dismantled a gang impersonating police officers who extorted shopkeepers using telephone spoofing. Arrests in two provinces, over 100,000 euros in assets seized.
Arrests for extortion at gold-buying shops using spoofing technique
According to the Piacenza Questura police headquarters website, two Sicilian men in their twenties were arrested on 11 November for aggravated extortion against two gold-buying shops in the city. The Mobile Squad, coordinated by the local Prosecutor's Office, executed a remand in custody order issued on the basis of an investigation that reconstructed the gang's modus operandi.
On 30 September the two suspects carried out the main robbery against the owner of a chain of two commercial premises. The method was twofold: telephone contacts using manipulated numbers made to appear as coming from a nearby Questura (a technique known as caller ID spoofing) and physical presence in the shops by one of the two individuals. The criminals presented themselves as members of the law enforcement authorities and claimed they needed to seize the jewellery following the arrest in Tuscany of a robber.
The coercion lasted several hours. The woman was kept in a video call by the extortionists during the afternoon and subsequently intimidated on the spot. One of the two displayed fake Questura reports and brandished a pistol, threatening to have the victim's son under surveillance. Under this pressure, the shop owner gave up over 1,200 grammes of gold worth more than 100,000 euros and 37,000 euros in cash, coming from the two shops.
Identification occurred through analysis of the surveillance systems in the shops and city cameras, which made it possible to track the vehicle used by the gang and the faces of those responsible. Examination of telephone records confirmed the presence of the two individuals in the area at the time of the facts.
The investigation also crystallised other similar episodes. Using the same method of the fake police officer, the two had carried out further frauds against gold-buying shops in the provinces of Alessandria and Imperia. The operation involved coordination between the Mobile Squad of Catania and the Mobile Squad of Syracuse, which identified and arrested the wanted Sicilians on the morning of 11 November.
Caller ID spoofing is a technique that manipulates the caller identification so that the recipient sees on the display the official number of the entity being impersonated rather than the number from which the communication actually originates. According to investigators, this strategy is widespread both for frauds against commercial premises and for deceiving elderly people on the pretext of protecting them, inducing them to make transfers to bank accounts falsely presented as secure or to hand over gold and jewellery.
One of the two arrested individuals was in possession of a fake Police State identity card, used during the robberies to lend credibility to the impersonation.
The suspects remain presumed innocent in view of the preliminary stage of proceedings, until a definitive determination of guilt by irrevocable judgment.
Source: Google News IT — Crime (it)