Belleville-sur-Meuse. Fake rippers, pretending to sell calendars, steal €400 from an 89-year-old lady

Beware of scams. An 89-year-old resident of Belleville-sur-Meuse was robbed of €400 by two fake rippers who showed up at her door this Tuesday.

Waiting for a delivery man, she opened her door to two individuals wearing yellow vests. “They said they were the garbage collectors who go around to sell their calendar,” she says. Twice, they claim that the €10 note she hands them is torn. She then goes into her living room to look for some cash left in a box that she took out to give to her grandchildren for Christmas.

While one individual makes him fill out a document attesting that they have come to his home, the second disappears. Disoriented, it takes her several minutes to notice. She finds him in his room rummaging through his drawers. The two men then fled with all his money. Complaint has been filed. For its part, Suez, which employs the rippers who collect waste from the inhabitants of Greater Verdun, specifies that its agents, on their own initiative, sell calendars but that they wear their orange work parka with the Suez logo. “If there is the slightest doubt, the person can also ask for proof attesting that they work for us,” underlines the sales manager, Catherine Sinceet.