Fake energy supervision employees robbed a pensioner in Dubrovno

August 28, Minsk / Viktor Grinkov - BELTA /. Fake energy inspectors robbed a pensioner in the town of Dubrovno, Vitebsk region. This was reported to a BELTA correspondent by the information and public relations department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs' security department. Two men, posing as employees of the energy supervision authority, entered the home of a 71-year-old pensioner. By fraudulent means, the attackers took all the woman's money and fled. Some time later, realizing she had been robbed, the grandmother called the police. The fake employees were detained by a patrol of the Dubrovno security department based on a description from the duty officer of the district police department. They turned out to be unemployed local residents with previous convictions. A criminal case has been initiated against the attackers under Article 209, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus ("Fraud committed by a group of persons"). The sanction of this article provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to four years. As noted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, this type of offense became particularly popular at the end of 2007. By posing as employees of housing and utility services, executive committees, medical services, or energy supervision, criminals easily gain the trust of elderly people, who let them into their homes. Then, under various pretexts, they distract the owners' attention and commit thefts. As a rule, two or three people are involved in such crimes. They make their visits in the first half of the day. They prefer to choose elderly people as victims. Once inside the dwelling, one of the attackers distracts the victim's attention, while his accomplices in the meantime search for supposed hiding places. As a result of fraud, many pensioners have lost considerable sums of money and jewelry. The police remind of the need to observe elementary precautions. It should be known that in the vast majority of cases, no social service will send its employee to a resident without their prior request. Social services either invite the resident to their office or send a specialist at the resident's request. An exception is made for employees of the gas service, who may appear at the door of an apartment without being summoned by the resident. In such a case, the citizen's algorithm of action is extremely simple: each apartment has a booklet with the contact phone numbers of this service. By calling these numbers, one can find out if this particular specialist has been sent to you. In addition, do not allow visitors to walk around the rooms alone. Before letting them in, it is advisable to call a neighbor. They will help keep an eye on the guests, who may well turn out to be criminals. The request to bring water, of course, will not be difficult for anyone. But this is exactly what thieves are counting on. Losing vigilance for even a few seconds can play into the hands of a criminal and lead to the commission of a crime. -0-