my friend has been mugged.

[Howard of Effingham]

i have just recieved an urgent e-mail from my club mate and friend paul [of ipms coventry and warwickshire].

he was mugged at knife point last night in milan and needs some help getting home.

i need someone to look for the details on uk consular assistance in milan or rome and post them here.

he is very shocked and upset.

hth,

trevor

[Spey_Phantom]

this might help:

http://embassy-finder.com/united-kingdom_in_milan_italy

[pyro-manic]

From the above linked site:

Milan consulate:

ADDRESS   
Via San Paolo 7
I-20121 Milano (Milan)
Italy

PHONE   LOCAL: (02) 723.001
INTERNATIONAL: +39.02.723.001

FAX   LOCAL: (02) 7202.0153
INTERNATIONAL: +39.02.7202.0153

Embassy in Rome:

ADDRESS   
Via XX Settembre 80a
I-00187 Roma (Rome)
Italy
PHONE   LOCAL: (06) 4220.0001
INTERNATIONAL: +39.06.4220.0001
WEB SITE   http://ukinitaly.fco.gov.uk/en


Hope he gets sorted quickly. Sounds like a horrible experience.

[Mossie]

Hi Trev, sorry to hear that about your friend.  I asked my wife who's a travel agent and she offered the following advice:

"He needs to speak to his insurance company and they'll need a police report from the mugging to put a claim in. They might be able to assist on getting home but depends on the level of cover he has.

Failing that he should ring the airline he's booked with and ask if he can change his ticket to fly home asap and explain why. It will probably cost him money but again depending on his cover this might be something he claim for.

If all else fails he can just turn up at the airport and ask to be put on stand by for the next flight that is available home but again he will have to pay"

Hope that helps,

Simon

[kitnut617]

Trevor, you might want to consider this too.  There was/is a scam going around where you get an email from a family member or friend saying they're in trouble and need you to send some money to them right away (the story changes).  It comes on the news every now and then when someone gets screwed ---

[Howard of Effingham]

i will post an update on this situation tomorrow.

[Martin H]

i will post an update on this situation tomorrow.

Its a scam!. I got the same email. And considering who the email is supposed to be from, Id be more worried for the good health of the muggers!

[kitnut617]

What the scam is, someone on holiday has their cell phone/laptop stolen. The theives then get into the address book and email family / friends saying they've been mugged or their room has been broken into and all their personal effects (wallet, passport etc) have been stolen and they've no money or other means to get home.  The last one that was reported on the News was a Grandad who got an email from his grandson, he'd been mugged so Grandad sent him 3 Grand  --- you know the rest.

The scam comes to light when the supposed 'victim' arrives home all safe and sound but missing his cell/laptop, only to find out what had happened in the meantime.

[Martin H]

The first hint that its a scam is that the email is badly written. No Brit who uses the more "anglo saxon" version of the queens english, (as the person this email purports to be from does) would not refer to their mobile phone as a cell phone, and they would not refer to the location as Milan, Italy. It would just be Milan. And as for using the word vacation.....Hardly any Brit would use that over holiday or long weekend when contacting friends.

[Howard of Effingham]

without going into details i have been able to establish that this was most definately a scam.

i have taken appropriate electronic security and other security measures as a result.

thank-you to all who have posted help.

what has happened did seem frighteningly realistic and i haven't had this happen in the manner it did ever before.

when previously folk have tried to scam me, its been very, very obivious indeed and easy to ignore. it wasn't this
time.

thank-you again.

trevor

[Spey_Phantom]

had the same problem once to, some tried to contact me, the chat-messages were written in perfect dutch.
it was only when she asked me to sms-contact her via a 4-digit number that i knew something was fishy  

scammers are getting better and better at coming of as believable.
just like the con-artists on the streets.

[McColm]

You get that a lot on line dating sites,especially ladies from Ghana.So I have been told.

[Spey_Phantom]

You get that a lot on line dating sites,especially ladies from Ghana.So I have been told.

yes indeed, but in my case, she claimed to be from Torhout, only 10km from my home.
even all her profile pics looked real.

[Weaver]

Just glad you didn't get done over Trevor. Thanks for sharing: I think we'll all bealert to that one now.

[NARSES2]

Just glad you didn't get done over Trevor. Thanks for sharing: I think we'll all bealert to that one now.

Yes, very much so. Not heard of this one