A 41-year-old woman believed to have swindled a number of elderly people in Vila Real de Santo António was arrested by PSP police on Wednesday (April 1) after being caught ‘red-handed’.
The woman was seen by officers posing as a council worker. This was the way she gained access into people’s homes, where she would then steal ATM bank cards and jewellery.
In an official statement put out by Faro PSP district command yesterday, police said they believe the woman was behind a string of evil scams that have swept the Eastern Algarvean town, targeting elderly people with “serious mobility problems”.
Seventy-nine-year-old Maria Pereira told officers how the heartless woman used Pereira’s dead daughter to gain access to the old woman’s home.
“She said she knew my daughter Luísa, who died two years ago. I started to cry and invited her in.”
Undercover PSP agents started following the woman last Tuesday (March 31).
The ensuing police statement says officers witnessed “many unsuccessful attempts to swindle victims” before the woman was finally able to con a pensioner out of €140. Following her home, PSP police confirmed her to be in possession of the €140 as well as the card she used to identify herself as a council social worker.
The woman is now due to be heard in court.
