Impostors Use Bird Flu as Pretext to Rob Elderly Woman

Impostors Use Bird Flu as Pretext to Rob Elderly Woman

Komoca/Nitra, February 16 (TASR) – As several cases of bird flu have emerged in recent weeks especially along the rivers in south-western Slovakia, impostors have begun using the situation as an opportunity to be let into the homes of elderly people in order to rob them, TASR learnt from the Nitra police on Thursday.

One such case took place on Tuesday in Komoca (Nitra region), located at the confluence of the Vah and Nitra rivers, involving a man and a woman who banged on the courtyard gate of a house in the village, presenting themselves to the 75-year old female property owner as poultry inspectors sent out by the municipality office. Being warned by them that “bird flu is raging in the district”, the elderly woman let the pair into her house.

“After a while, the pensioner went out into the courtyard with the man, who was claiming that he needed to measure something. The unknown woman remained alone in the house in the meantime,” said Nitra regional police spokesperson Bozena Bruchterova.

The elderly lady noticed as late as the next day that an envelope containing more than €1,100 disappeared from her wardrobe, said the police spokesperson.

A number of cases involving impostors targeting lonely elderly people have emerged in Slovakia in recent years, with the thieves presenting themselves most frequently as staff from energy companies or acquaintances of the elderly people’s close relatives in urgent need of money.

The two impostors from Komoca, who are still at large, could spend up to ten years in prison if caught and convicted.