A well-established scam, which spans almost twenty years. This is the diabolical plan put together by this Swiss man, now 80 years old, according to witnesses, and nicknamed Max, Claude and Gérard. His modus operandi – always the same – is worthy of a film script, and yet, it works! The man who has been plaguing the roads of France for around twenty years, according to BFMTV this Monday February 19, 2024, has scammed hundreds, even thousands of people who hitchhiked with him. He claims to be a former doctor or businessman, and claims to have had his belongings stolen. He owes his nickname “Max the Swiss” to a slight Swiss German accent, or because he sometimes presented himself as coming from Graubünden, Switzerland, traces the Swiss newspaper The morning in January 2024. Touched by his story, many motorists spontaneously offered him their help, going so far as to lend him hundreds of euros for some.. Max then sent them his details to reimburse them. But they never saw the color of their money.
A scam impossible to condemn for justice
During a judgment rendered in 2009 by the Brive-la-Gaillarde public prosecutor’s office (Corrèze), the scammer was released. Indeed, the courts ruled that the people concerned gave him money of their own free will and not under threat. Not sure that his victims feel this way. Nadège, a young motorist from Haute-Vienne, crossed paths with the scammer in December 2023. She recounted her misadventure to Popular of the Center on December 30, 2023. “He told me that he was Jewish, that his wife, who suffers from cancer, and his daughter were in Israel. He showed me photos. We talked for a while, and then, I didn’t question his story.” The man claims to be a retired urologist, says his name is Isaac Roven, has just come out of 53 days of intensive care in hospital due to Covid-19 and has had his belongings stolen.
Convincing acting, the man coughs and has difficulty breathing. “He really hurt me”, says the young woman. To the point that she decides to withdraw money to pay for his train and bus ticket to Strasbourg, where he claims to live. That same evening, she begins to have doubts: “When I typed in his name, I found nothing even though he said he was a doctor. Then I decided to type in his phone number”, she says. This is how she discovered testimonies similar to hers. In 2010, a blog was created to collect the testimonies of its victims, there were so many of them, reports BFMTV. However, his well-crafted scam is not about to end. People give him money willingly, thus preventing criminal prosecution. The only solution to avoid being fooled: stay on your guard.