Fraud Alert: Thiefs Pose as Health Workers to Steal

HERMOSILLO, SONORA, MX – Sonora authorities alerted the public to a new type of fraud, where thieves show up at your door and claim to be workers of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) to rob homes.

One of the cases occurred in the city of Hermosillo, where an elderly woman was robbed by an impostor. The impostors showed up at her home and claimed they were providing a special service.

The complaint filed by the victim, 85-year-old Maria N, established that two people arrived at her home located in the neighborhood Luis Encinas, and stripped her of the jewelry she was wearing.

The affected narrated, before elements of the Ministerial Agency for Criminal Investigation (AMIC), that this Friday, May 15 at noon, the woman identified herself as a worker of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS), while the other person stayed in the car which had tinted windows.

Maria noted that the woman told her that she came from a public hospital, in the federal sector, to provide home therapies “as a special service” for patients who cannot go, due to the contingency caused by Covid-19.

The victim, accompanied by her husband, sat on the porch of her house when the woman appeared. The victim was protected by the security bars of the property and narrated that the woman took out a bottle that she claimed was an antibacterial gel, but she perceived an oily substance, with which the stranger began to rub her arms.

At the moment, the alleged impostor responsible for the robbery pulled the victim’s arm and managed to remove the bracelets. Maria narrated that she owned those bracelets since she was a teenager. The impostor also tried to remove a ring without success.

The thief fled in a gray, four door sedan with the jewels she stole.

The Sonora Public Prosecutor’s Office initiated with the corresponding inquiries, through the Agent of the Public Ministry, to find those responsible and act based on the provisions of the law.