Victims are only senior citizens Kapo Aargau warns against this brazen electricity scam
Since the beginning of the year, there have been an increasing number of incidents in which thieves turn up at the front door of senior citizens' homes and pretend to be electricity meter readers. The Aargau cantonal police urge caution.
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- In the municipalities of Aargau, perpetrators have been pretending to be electricity meter readers in order to gain access to homes and steal valuables.
- Senior citizens are particularly affected, with the perpetrators often working in pairs and using diversionary tactics.
- According to the cantonal police, around 30 cases have been registered since the beginning of the year.
He was an employee of the industrial companies and had to read the electricity meter, claimed the stranger at the apartment door. He immediately forced his way into the apartment and walked through the rooms with a device that made a beeping sound.
The 89-year-old resident became suspicious and loudly ordered the stranger out of the apartment. When he had disappeared, the woman realized that a wristwatch was missing. On the same day, a thief used the same trick to get into the retirement home of a 93-year-old woman. There, the perpetrator stole jewelry worth around 15,000 francs.
Both incidents took place on March 25 in two municipalities in Aargau, as the Aargau police reported in a press release. The cantonal police have been observing a conspicuous increase in such crimes since the beginning of the year. Across the entire canton, they have recorded around 30 cases involving this specific scam.
The victims are all senior citizens, most of whom live in apartments, but occasionally also in detached houses.
This is how the perpetrators proceed
According to the police, all of these crimes bear the signature of perpetrators who have obviously specialized in this method. Experience shows that the criminals often work in pairs: While one distracts the victim, an accomplice sneaks into the apartment and searches for cash, bank cards or valuables. As far as the cantonal police were able to gather any information, the perpetrators came from eastern or south-eastern Europe and spoke broken German.
The Aargau cantonal police warn older people to be careful. "Regardless of whether the strangers claim to be electricity or water meter readers or tradespeople, unannounced persons should not be allowed into the house," the press release states. If in doubt, neighbors should be called in and the police informed.