French police have arrested two men for allegedly selling bedbug control services – and at high prices – to elderly people who didn’t need them.
The men, operating in eastern France, called their victims, usually women over 90, to tell them there were bedbugs in their area. They exploited the bedbug scare that gripped France in the fall to gain access to their victims’ homes by posing as health officials.
They then pretended to spray the house with anti-bedbug spray, AFP reported. They also provided victims with an ointment that they said repelled bedbugs from human skin, but in reality it was just a eucalyptus-scented cream. The men only accepted payment by credit card and charged between 300 and 2,100 euros per visit.
Police investigated the matter following nine complaints of fraud. According to authorities, at least 48 people were defrauded. Police tracked down the suspects, placed them under surveillance and arrested them as they left the home of their latest victim in Strasbourg.
In October, many schools in France were closed due to the possible presence of bedbugs, and the government held a series of emergency meetings. The insects have been spotted on the Paris metro, on high-speed trains and at Charles de Gaulle airport.
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