At 85 years old this “grandmother detective” foiled the third scam in two years (by organizing a trap for the gang of criminals)

In the early afternoon of 1 September 2026, the domestic tranquility of Mappano, a municipality in the Turin area, was shaken by the usual and squalid telephone script. At lunchtime, an 85-year-old woman answered the landline telephone at home, finding a self-styled soldier from the Carabinieri at the other end of the phone.

The voice on the phone attempted to alarm her with an urgent tone, telling of a serious car accident caused by the old woman’s daughter and asking to collect gold and precious goods to be delivered as collateral to cover the immediate legal costs. However, the scammer could not have known that he had come across an authentic specialist in neutralizing scams against the elderly.

The trap set for the scammer

The old woman remained calm without betraying any type of panic and immediately contacted her daughter to verify the situation. Once she was certain that it was yet another fraud, the family member contacted the Venaria Reale operations center to coordinate the intervention of the police.

At that point the woman chose to play the part of the frightened victim willing to cooperate, confirming to the criminals her willingness to deliver the jewels directly to the house. The bait worked perfectly, leading the gang’s emissary to show up at the door of the house around 2 pm, unaware of the fact that there would be no easy loot waiting for him.

The raid on the old woman’s house and the gang of very young people stopped by the Carabinieri

When the person in charge rang the intercom to collect the valuables, the Carabinieri from the Venaria Reale company came out, the real ones, hidden and ready to act. The soldiers blocked and handcuffed the man before he could realize the trap. The arrested person is a twenty-year-old from Turin with no criminal record, for whom the Ivrea Prosecutor’s Office has ordered house arrest.

At the same time, the police identified the four alleged accomplices who were waiting nearby: two twenty-year-olds and two minors, all reported in a state of freedom. One of the two minors was taken back to his home following instructions from the Turin Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office.

It’s the third time he’s busted a scam

As mentioned, it is not the first time that this “grandmother detective” has foiled a scam attempt. It is in fact the third episode that has seen her as the protagonist in the space of just 26 months. The very first successful reaction dates back to February 2024, when he managed to stop another scammer with the same promptness.

The second precedent occurred towards the end of April 2026, when the old woman had a 41-year-old woman arrested. On that occasion, a fake doctor told her that her son needed an urgent surgery costing 120 thousand euros, asking for gold in advance. The deception failed miserably since the woman never had male children. At the time the old woman also ended up on television, interviewed for her quick reflexes in some programmes. But as we know, there’s no two without three (and the fourth comes naturally): forewarned, forearmed scammer.