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€170,000 Lost to scammer New season of Imserso trips
PENSIONERS in Spain have finally received the green light to apply for the new season of Imserso trips.
On Monday, June 26, Ione Belarra, from the Ministry of Social Rights, announced that applications were now being taken to participate in the new season's programme. A total of 886,269 places are available for the 202324 season which is scheduled to start in October and continue until June 2024.
These trips are available to apply for until July 25. Preference will be given to pensioners who have not experienced one of the trips before.
Access to the database can be made via the internet through the Imserso Electronic Office. Once the online application form is completed, it can be submitted via the program’s telematics or in a stamped envelope, not by registered mail, to the address of the Imserso Tourism Program, at PO Box 10.140, 28080 Madrid.
As specified by the Official State Gazette (BOE), anybody residing in Spain who meets the following requirements can apply for an Imserso trip.
These are:
• A retired pensioner or a widow pensioner aged 55 or more, or a pensioner for other reasons of the Spanish Social Security system or the recipient of unemployment benefits or subsidies, aged 60 years or more.
• Be insured or a beneficiary of the Spanish Social Security system, aged 65 years or more.
• Spaniards residing abroad will also be entitled to apply, as long as they are retirement pensioners of the Spanish Social Security system.
• Spaniards of emigrant origin who have since returned to Spain, provided they are pensioners of the public social security systems of the country or countries to which they emigrated.
Applicants may also be accompanied by their spouse or, where appropriate, by a commonlaw partner or person with whom a stable and cohabitation union is established.
They may also be accompanied by children with disabilities, provided they travel with their parents and stay in the same room or, where appropriate, pay the single room supplement.
A WOMAN from Granada has been scammed for thousands of Euros after she thought she was in a relationship with American film star Brad Pitt.
A story emerged on June 29, of how a middleaged woman lost a huge sum of money after the fraudster, posing as the movie heartthrob, offered her a film part, according to a news source.
The resident of Granada filed a legal complaint after alleging she was the victim of a scam of at least €170,000 by a confidence trickster who pretended to be the American actor Brad Pitt.
The victim, who has reported the case, thought she was in a relationship with the actor. Following a promise to shoot a film with her, the scammer then started asking her for money.
According to the lawyer who is representing the middleaged, childless woman, the victim genuinely believed she was in a relationship with him.
The series of events leading up to the theft began in early 2022, when through the social network Facebook, she contacted a fan club of the actor. Thus began a series of continuous interactions that led her to be lieve she had made direct contact with Brad Pitt himself. The lawyer said that over time the scammer gradually gained her trust. Things progressed to the point they became friends, leaving the woman convinced the actor had fallen in love with her, in a romantic online relationship. The person posing as the actor promised to come to
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Spain and shoot a film together.
As the ruse continued the fraudster began to demand different amounts of money, in order to pay for the production costs.
Once the woman came to realise the truth, she sought legal help. Herlegal representative said that the amount of money swindled could be higher than initially estimated.