An expat has sounded the alarm after allegedly falling prey to a ‘flat tyre’ scam on the Costa del Sol.
Inken Tietz took to social media to warn fellow residents and visitors after she was ‘tricked and stolen from’ in Calahonda, Mijas.
Inken claimed her tyre was purposefully punctured by scammers, who then stole her handbag and other items while pretending to help her.
‘I have been robbed this morning, here in Calahonda on the little street that goes from Miel y Nata to Avenida de Europa,’ she explained.
‘After having been to the Sabadell office to get money, I drove up the hill when I was told by another driver that I had a flat tyre, so I stopped the car and called the insurance company.
‘While waiting for the road assistance a man walked by and offered to help with the flat tyre, he had one of these sprays for flat tyres with him.
‘He fixed the tube on my tyre and tried to inflate it, but it wouldn’t work properly, so he said that he had another spray and he would just go and get it, but I should try to continue with the other spray.
‘Needless to say, I trusted that he was a good Samaritan and kept trying but then after some moments it dawned on me that something was strange and I looked inside my car and saw that he had taken my handbag from inside my car while I was focused on trying to inflate the tyre.’
She added: ‘The guy from the road assistance who arrived shortly afterwards showed me that a long sharp object had pinched my tyre and it was clear that the pinched tyre and the theft were connected.
‘The guy who came and took my handbag and an accomplice must have manipulated my tyre down at Sabadell and followed me until the point when I had to stop the car for the flat tyre and then played their theatre.
‘Not only has a lot of money been taken from me today, but it will take me some time to retrieve all my documents, get my car fixed again and last but not least get over what has happened to me today… be careful, neighbours!’
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
