Police warn of imposter officials!

Criminals are turning to it more and more: they will pose as fake officials and carry out robberies using team and diversion tactics. According to French police, these crimes have been carried out by perpetrators posing as water service operatives, electricity service agents and fake police officers, bankers and even social workers.
The modus operandi is almost always the same. The criminals will work in pairs or teams: one will distract the resident of a property while the accomplice searches the premises for cash, jewellery or other valuables that are easy to spirit away illegally. There are many false pretexts that the felons use: they could say they need to heat a baby’s bottle, ask for a glass of water, request the use of a phonebook, say they are looking for a lost pet… In any case, they will have scoped out a street and will target those residents they see as elderly or weak.
The burglars will invariably be dressed neatly, carefully and convincingly. They speak politely and will very, very rarely resort to violence.
Police officer remains the most popular choice of alias for these criminals, and they are frequently able to produce convincing or semi convincing ID.
To date, several thousand euros worth of cash and jewellery have been swiped using these methods, not including the foiled attempt a few days back in Esch-sur-Alzette.
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