A suspected bedbug fraud led to the arrest of two in France

After allegedly tricking elderly people into paying thousands of euros for bedbug treatment they did not require, two men have been detained in France. The guys would visit their victims' homes, perform phony control procedures, and then overcharge for treatment supplies, according to Strasbourg police. They also mentioned that a total of 48 people—many of them elderly women—had fallen victim to scams. France has observed an increase in bedbug infections in recent months. Concern over the matter has spread throughout the nation, and top government officials are drafting policies to deal with it. Health professionals and entomologists have cautioned that the epidemic has also increased the number of unfounded reports of sightings and unjustified panic. According to authorities, the purported con artists would call their victims and inform them that there was a problem in their neighborhood. Then, in the guise of health inspectors, they would go to the person's house and pretend to fumigate the area using aerosol sprays. They would give free an ointment that they said would keep the pests off human skin before they left. The ointment turned out to be a basic cream with a hint of eucalyptus. The compensation for victims would range from €300 to €2,100 (£257 to £1,800). Authorities reported that they had received nine official complaints about alleged fraud. As the suspects left the Strasbourg house of an alleged victim, they were placed under surveillance and taken into custody. There are concerns that the infections in Paris might move to London over the English Channel. London Mayor Sadiq Khan called the threat to the city's public transportation system a "real source of concern" in an October interview with PoliticsJOE. To "ensure we don't have that problem," he said he has spoken with officials at Transport For London and colleagues in Paris.