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The Swindling

The swindling happened outside of Mater Dei hospital, as the man was waiting for his wife to come out of the hospital.

“The individual initially waved at my grandparent but they didn’t recognise the man. After a few minutes, he approached the car and struck up a conversation with my grandparent, proceeding to say things like ‘qed tarafni’ ’sellimtlek’, overall acting very friendly,” the granddaughter told the newsroom.

“My grandparent repeatedly told the man they didn’t recognise him, but he still stuck around. A bit later, the relative my grandparent was waiting for came out of Mater Dei and was seeing this exchange taking place. The man then started saying ‘ija, niġi minn...’ and proceeded to mention a common Maltese name, for instance, Doris or Rita,” she said.

“He made me believe that we were related, by saying, ‘I saw you – you passed near me in Mosta yesterday, you didn’t see me,’ and I believed him cause we are from Mosta,” John continued, expressing that the man knew where they resided.

“When my wife entered the car, he was telling her; ‘You don’t recognise me?! You came to my sibling’s wedding!” John said.

The Outcome

Both the grandparents and the granddaughter recounted how they were wary of the man, but he proceeded to feed them a sob story about this presumed pregnant girlfriend who was currently at Mater Dei undergoing surgery due to a medical complication.

“He was attempting to tug their heartstrings in order for them to let their guard down and to feel sorry for him. He proceeded to ask them for money, but since there had gone on a quick errand, neither of them had any cash on them,” she said.

“H also said he had locked the keys of his car inside the car, and he couldn’t open it. He continued to explain how he went to someone and they asked him for €120 to unlock it for him,” John said.

“He told me, ‘I only have €70 on me, can you give me €50’,” he said. “I didn’t have on me, my wife didn’t either, but I offered to go withdraw from an ATM. At first, he acted like he was a bit shy to take the money,” John said.

But another relative who was also there and overheard the conversation said: “I have €50 in the car!”

“And that’s how it happened,” John said with a chuckle.

The man assured us that he’ll pay us back, that he’ll leave the money in our letterbox later that week. So the relative gave him the money and he was on his way.

The Realisation

“After the exchange, my grandparents got to thinking and they realised that they didn’t provide him with any information to find them; no home address, no mobile number, so he had no way of even contacting them.”

The victims decided to file a police report, and within a few days John was asked to go to the police station to identify the perpetrator.

The description of the man given was that of; 25-30 years of age, tanned complexion, medium build, around 5’9 – and the most distinct aspect was the fact that he had a short ponytail, with the sides of his head shaved.

The photo matched up with the man that had approached them on that day, however, they have not heard anything from the police in almost two weeks now.

Police have confirmed with Lovin Malta that a report was lodged regarding this case and that investigations are currently underway. However, no other details were provided at the time of publishing.

Upon recounting the event with other relatives, the victims were quick to find out that this was not an isolated incident, but two other people also expressed that the same man had approached them recently, one in Marsa and the other in Raħal Ġdid, using the exact same method.

*John’s name has been altered to protect the identity of the person.

If you or any relative of yours have encountered this man who has asked you for money and matches up with the given description, do not hesitate to get in contact with the police and [email protected] if you would like to speak about your experience in confidence

Have you ever encountered anything of the sort?