Five people were arrested for scams at the payment terminal in Bas-Rhin and Moselle for more than 200,000 euros in damage, the national gendarmerie said on Tuesday, September 20.
"
To date, 68 victims have been identified and the total amount of the scams amounts to more than 209,000 euros
," said the gendarmerie in a press release.
The victims, in need of emergency repair work at their home (plumbing, electricity, locksmithing or heating), had contacted a company whose contact details appeared on flyers placed in mailboxes.
The individuals contacted introduced themselves, promised to return with an estimate for the repairs, but first requested payment for the first trip by credit card via a small payment box.
Taking advantage of a moment of inattention, they seized an amount greater than that announced.
Read alsoUsed vehicles, targets of foreign networks and organized gang scams
On September 12, the gendarmes of Haguenau (Bas-Rhin) arrested five perpetrators of these scams in the Bas-Rhin and in the Paris region.
Four were indicted and the one identified as the leader of this organized gang was "taken
back to the remand center where he is already imprisoned for other acts
", specifies the gendarmerie.