Safety. Municipality of Milan and Prefecture together to combat the phenomenon of scams targeting the elderly
Safety. Municipality of Milan and Prefecture together to combat the phenomenon of scams targeting the elderly
Milan, November 4 2019 - The Municipality and Prefecture of Milan today presented the new project to combat the phenomenon of scams targeting the elderly. The initiative is the result of a memorandum of understanding signed by the two institutions on 28 June and of a loan from the Ministry of the Interior of 241 thousand euros as part of an initiative reserved for regional capitals, in order to provide tools and incentives to stem this phenomenon. A crime that affects a weaker segment of citizens and which not only causes economic damage, but also harms the victims from a psychological point of view.
The resources made available will be used to strengthen various areas of intervention, from information campaigns to meetings in the area to explain how to recognize a scam, from the training of new operators to the strengthening of the activity of neighborhood police.
In detail, the municipal administration will train and update a greater number of local police officers on this topic, with the support of the police forces, who will be employed in training meetings with elderly people and in direct contact with citizens. The audience will therefore be expanded, in addition to the Units already involved in combating scams targeting the elderly, also to the Neighborhood Police who patrol the streets of Milan on a daily basis and are therefore in more direct contact with potential victims.
At the same time, with the coordination of the Prefecture and in close collaboration with the Police Force, an information campaign on the topic was launched which will be promoted in Milan through all available means of communication, from the social networks of the Municipality of Milan to the more traditional public posters, including advertising on public transport to reach the largest possible audience.
With the involvement of the nine Municipalities and the social organizations active in the neighborhoods, the first information meetings aimed specifically at the elderly were also organized in various places in the city. The purpose of these courses, held by operators of the State Police, the Carabinieri, the Financial Police and the Local Police, is to explain in a simple and effective way the behaviors that allow you to avoid potentially dangerous situations, as well as providing tools to protect yourself and information to ask for help from the Police Force.
Fraudsters are experts in stealing the good faith of elderly people, which is why the main techniques currently used to deceive victims will also be illustrated, in order to provide everyone with the opportunity to recognize them.
In addition to the information campaign, information brochures and actual handbooks have also been created which will be distributed not only during the meetings, but also in the headquarters of all the Police Forces, in the senior centers and in all the offices of the entities present in the area that they will want to collaborate.
This will allow the elderly, especially those who live alone, to always have a useful "guide" at hand to prevent unpleasant surprises.
Calendar of appointments in the Municipalities
Updated: 04/11/2019