"Neighbors' House Infested with Bedbugs... French Villains Extorted 3 Million Won After Threatening to Disinfect Quickly"

Bedbug Infestation Rampant in France, Fraud Cases Increasing
Disinfection Costs Billed Up to 2.96 Million Won
"Beware of Fraud Exploiting Bedbug Fear"

In France, which is already struggling with bedbugs, a new problem has emerged with the rise of 'bedbug scams.'

According to AFP and other sources on the 8th (local time), French police announced that they arrested two individuals on charges of fraud for selling unnecessary bedbug extermination services to elderly people by exploiting their fear of bedbugs.

The suspects mainly called women over 90 years old, deceiving them by saying, "Bedbugs have appeared in your neighborhood." They then disguised themselves as health officials, visited the victims' homes, sprayed insecticide pretending to take preventive measures against bedbugs, and even provided ointment that supposedly prevented bugs from biting human skin.

[Image source=Pixabay]

However, the ointment was nothing more than a commercially available cream with a eucalyptus scent. They charged between 300 and 2100 euros (approximately 420,000 to 2,960,000 KRW) per visit.

The police received nine reports of suspected fraud related to this case and launched an investigation, revealing that at least 48 people were scammed. After identifying the suspects, the police arrested one of them in the Strasbourg area while leaving a victim's home after committing the bedbug extermination scam. The police warned, "Beware of scams exploiting fear of bedbugs."

Similarly to Europe, South Korea is also suffering from bedbug infestations.

Comprehensive environmental hygiene company CESCO announced on the 29th of last month that the annual bedbug monitoring index for this year is expected to increase 16 times compared to 2010.

The bedbug monitoring index is CESCO's bedbug management index calculated based on customer and service data. CESCO explained that the increase in bedbugs is highly correlated with the rising number of domestic and international travelers.

During 2020-2021, the number of domestic and international travelers decreased due to COVID-19, slowing the increase in the bedbug monitoring index. However, since last year, when international travel restrictions were lifted, both the number of travelers and the bedbug monitoring index have risen simultaneously.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.