Despite national prevention campaigns, online scams are increasing and causing more and more victims, most of them middle-aged or elderly. In Piedmont e Aosta Valley in 2025, 26 million euros were “burned”, four more than the previous year. And, the vast majority of victims reside in Turinwhere the majority of the population of the two regions is concentrated. This is the most alarming fact that catches your eye when you browse the company’s annual report Turin Postal Police.
Fake advertising and artificial intelligence
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«Among the victims there are many pensioners who, using social media, allow themselves to be deceived by fake advertisements created by artificial intelligence». Explains Assunta Espositothe leader of the Operational Center for Cyber Security – Postal and Communications Police of Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta. There is an example that may be emblematic. «One day – he says – a professional who had invested over 700 thousand euros in cryptocurrencies on a fake platform showed up at our offices and admitted that he had made his decision after seeing the Prime Minister’s advice online. Giorgia Meloni e di Siegfried Ranucci which, obviously, had been created ad hoc with artificial intelligence.”
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False investments and relationships of trust
The latest case handled by the Post Office concerns a former engineer from Turin. Who opened a loan with a finance company for 25 thousand euros and invested it on the advice of an operator with whom he had almost established a friendly relationship. But, after receiving false reports that his investments were making a lot of money, the former engineer lost track of his money and that broker who said he had studied in London and never answered the phone again. This is for investments.
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E-commerce, holiday homes and sentimental scams
Then there are e-commerce scams, holiday home scams and also around sixty “sentimental scams”. Where, often, the victims are single women. Let themselves be attracted by promises of a new life, falling for profiles of men they will never meet. «For all the frauds in the last year we have reported 380 people with two arrests – he continues Esposito – and, in total, thanks to timely complaints we managed to recover 466 thousand euros. Unfortunately, if the money is moved to foreign accounts, it becomes much more complicated to trace it.”
Online child pornography and cyberbullying
The other plague against which postal agents fight every day is online child pornography. Which must be continuously updated to investigate what is happening on the deep web. In 2025, 14 people were arrested and 58 reported for this type of crime. Most are unsuspecting people who were caught exchanging and spreading photos and videos online with minors, including scenes of violence. Unfortunately, new technologies are also the main vector on which cyberbullying occurs, especially among young people.
How to avoid being scammed
«In 2025 we held 199 meetings in schools, starting from primary school, to give advice and alert boys and girls to the risks they may incur by interacting on social media».Tazzoli, you never let your guard down. In fact the Postal has entered into various protocols with enters like Gtt, University o Mscto “defend” them from hacker attacks. In 2025 alone, 510 alerts were issued.
date:2026-02-08 13:12:00
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