Father and son deceived 100 restaurants in three years using the same scheme (2 photos)
Over the past three years, the "duet" has systematically defrauded restaurants, leaving bills unpaid at about a hundred establishments. Their scheme was "thoughtful and audacious." 
The scammers followed a well-established pattern. They carefully selected their victims by studying restaurant reviews online. Preference was given to small establishments with a reputation for being "customer-friendly." When they arrived at the chosen restaurant, they ordered a full dinner with appetizers, main courses, desserts, and alcohol for about €150.
When it came time to pay, the man would present a non-working credit card. His son would pretend to go to an ATM to get cash, but would always return empty-handed. Then the father, feigning embarrassment, would leave his ID or Social Security card as collateral, promising to return with the money the next day. Instead, he would report the documents as lost and obtain new ones to repeat the scheme elsewhere.
For a long time, the scammers managed to avoid detection by carefully selecting their victims. They never visited the same restaurant twice, and the owners of the establishments, faced with fraud, often did not contact the police, considering the amount of damage insignificant. The situation changed when one of the defrauded restaurateurs posted photos of the documents he had left behind on social media. 
The post attracted widespread attention, and soon 43 more restaurant owners claimed to have fallen victim to a similar scam. The police launched an investigation, which ended in April 2025 with the arrest of the suspects. During interrogation, the man confessed to hundreds of similar episodes, and his son said that they ate at someone else's expense two or three times a week.
