People tend to want to get their hands on easy money. Some look for a higher salary, others play the lottery, while others gamble at the casino. But nobody ever refuses free money. This trusting-consumer sting is usually used by the most inventive people — apartment thieves.
Theft of private property tops the crime statistics. In 2005 alone there were 52,000 robberies. These are only the cases that can be prosecuted, because according to the law the loss of fewer than 525 hryvnias is an administrative, not a criminal offence.
A reporter from The Day recently witnessed a criminal report being written up on an apartment theft. The police came six hours after the call, and they were not surprised by what they saw or heard. There are many cases involving swindling, especially among socially defenseless people — the unemployed, single people, pensioners, and veterans. The con game is ridiculously simple: a girl approaches an elderly person in the street, introduces herself as a social service worker, and offers to fill out an application for additional benefits to which “you, as a veteran, are entitled.”
The criminals’ inventiveness should be paid its due: veterans and retired people are easily spotted in a crowd by their age. They are also most likely to be found waiting for new state benefits and increases to their small pensions. Most elderly people closely follow the news regarding pension laws and are ready to believe that a new re-calculation of money has come into effect while they were away at the store, and that this nice girl is really carrying money for pensioners in her handbag.
When dust has already been thrown into a pensioner’s eyes, the con game becomes simpler: on their way to the apartment the fake official tells the victim what misfortunes the state has prepared for him, a socially defenseless citizen, and how a single application will help him save his skin. At the apartment the person is distracted — led to a kitchen or another room and detained there for a certain period of time. While “the social service representative” is dictating a huge application or text of an appeal, her accomplices enter the apartment and cart off money, jewellery, and household appliances.
Up to 90 percent of burglaries take place in high-rise apartments. It is much simpler to do this than “work” in a rural area or the private sector, because contacts between residents of multistoried buildings are usually non- existent, buildings are poorly lit, and not all entrances are provided with security codes or magnetic locks to protect residents from outsiders. Statistics show that most apartment burglaries happen during the day, when people are at work — from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Even when Kyivites see a stranger near their apartment, they don’t always know if it’s a neighbor, a neighbor’s lodger, guest, or a thief.
Think twice before inviting any stranger to your house and don’t let him inside. It is safer to visit the necessary agency on your own or to call them. Even better, don’t talk to strangers: these days there’s no free cheese even in mousetraps. If a stranger’s line seems convincing, don’t be in a hurry to invite this person to your home: ask for the address and telephone number of the agency that sent the employee. The fact is that most services contact the client in advance by telephone or by mail, ask for documents needed to process benefits, and fill out a report on standard letterheads.
To process a subsidy or a pension, a pensioner must come to the social service in person, and single people should make a phone call to the territorial center and inform them of his needs. “It is not mandatory to come to the service center — you can telephone,” explains Nina Bulanova, the deputy director of a center serving single people and those who cannot work. “The person requiring a service should give his name, address, and other information. Then we send an official request to a hospital or housing office to clarify the situation. When all the documents have been processed, the client chooses the days and times when the worker will visit him. And, of course, every staff member of the center has a standard ID.”
Not only pensioners should be on guard: according to militia officers, there is a variety of cock-and-bull stories for every category of people. If you are a worker, they will ask you to take your documents because there is a rush job; if you are a student, they will allude to problems with an institute; if you are a religious person, they might ask you to show them your icons.
An individual approach is chosen, one that is so subtle and exact that even a person who is normally suspicious may fall for the conman’s line. But here’s the problem. What is better: to meekly obey the instructions of the “leader” or leave the room and try to stop the offence by summoning two or three armed people.
The militia advises citizens to be on guard and follow basic safety rules. You should not put keys under carpets or the mailbox, or show strangers where you keep jewellery and how much you have. You should ask all agency representatives who try to enter the building to show their work IDs, and if you are even the tiniest bit suspicious, do not open the door.
It would be a good idea to organize a neighbor watch for all residents during the workday or to conclude an apartment security agreement with the State Safety Service. Every resident should also know the phone numbers of the social, insurance, and emergency services of their district, so that whenever necessary you can make sure that you’re being visited by a real plumber or electrician. If there are strangers in the lobby of your building ringing all the apartments, call the militia.
