Brazen scam in Olten Man offers help to senior citizen (78) - and empties his wallet

In Olten, an elderly man fell victim to a scam when he was asked for change at a parking machine. He later discovers that he is missing 500 francs.

A 78-year-old man was the victim of a sophisticated scam in Olten on Wednesday. At around 2 p.m., a man aged between 40 and 50 approached him at a parking machine on Klosterplatz and asked for change. As the senior citizen was not wearing his glasses, the stranger helped him to find the right coins, as reported by "20 Minuten".

It was only when the man from Solothurn wanted to pay in a café half an hour later that he realized his wallet was empty. The 500 francs he had taken with him to go shopping with his wife and daughter had disappeared. He quickly realized that his willingness to help had been shamelessly exploited.

The victim's daughter was shocked by the audacity of the theft. She was only a few meters away and had seen the man talking to her father. "He smiled at me and said goodbye, nothing seemed suspicious," she told 20 Minuten. Above all, the incident left her father with a breach of trust, which is more of a burden to him than the financial loss.

"I won't get involved in situations like that again"

The senior slept badly after the incident and was disappointed as a person. "I won't get involved in situations like that again in future," he reflected the next day.

After the incident, the family filed a complaint with the police. The Solothurn cantonal police confirmed the incident and the complaint. According to a police spokesperson, two similar cases of change theft were reported in the Olten region in January 2024, but there was no apparent increase in such incidents.

The editor wrote this article with the help of AI.