Algeria : fake military officers involved in swindling

The national gendarmerie arrested 160 individuals including women for usurpation of top military and gendarmerie officers’ identities in order to swindle citizens.

This phenomenon took alarming dimensions over the last three years where people used to ask favors from these fake “important personalities” to solve their administrative problems.

Estimates showed that most of the cases are related to the military sector, owing to the advantages linked to this position. During the year 2006, 69 individuals have been arrested including 4 women.

While 54 were put in jail, 15 have been released on parole.

Most of the indicted are jobless resorted to this “easy means” to get money along with private workers as well as university students. The great majority of the arrested were mentally disturbed, the investigations revealed.

Geographically speaking, the phenomenon touched mainly great provinces in which Algiers takes the lead to be followed by Oran in the west and Setif in the east. But the epidemic widespread to other provinces such as Boumerdes,Tebessa, Bardj Bou Arreridj, Mostaghanem, Gilizane, Tlemcen to be extended to the southern province of Bechar.

How to stop the phenomenon?

The question was tried to be answered by the national gendarmerie in raising the people’s awareness on the necessity to call on the official means to solve their bureaucratic problems without requiring to intermediaries and denounce fraudulent cases if there are any on due time .