An elderly couple from Ciego de Ávila lost 30,000 pesos and their gas cylinder after falling victim to a scam that exploited one of the biggest challenges currently faced by Cuban families: obtaining fuel for cooking.
The complaint was made this Saturday by Massiely Obregón, a Cuban resident in Jamaica, who shared on Facebook what happened to her parents, aged 70 and 77.
According to her account, an unknown person called her mother and told her to prepare the empty cylinder and 30,000 pesos because they would sell a gas cylinder to her husband, who is a teacher.
"Given the need in Cuba, where there’s nothing to cook with and everyone has to be cooking with coal, it’s understandable that she believed it," he explained.
The man arrived in a bicycle taxi, collected the money and the cylinder, and left with the promise of returning with the gas. When the husband came back home, they discovered the deception: no one had offered him any bullets.
The couple immediately went to the police. Fortunately for the family, a security camera had captured the alleged scammer.
The elderly couple's granddaughter, identified as Milena, then went out to search for him around the city and managed to locate him on the Carretera Central, still in the same bicitaxi. According to Obregón, the young woman positioned herself in front of the vehicle, halted traffic, and stayed there until the police arrived.
"The man did not anticipate that there would be a camera to immortalize his image, nor did he consider that they have families who can speak on their behalf," he pointed out.
The suspect was arrested, but by the time of the report, the family had not recovered the 30,000 pesos or the tank.
The case adds to other scams related to the severe shortage of liquefied gas in Cuba. In June, a family from Las Tunas paid 50,000 pesos for a small gas bottle that contained mainly water.
The scarcity and high prices in the informal market have forced many families to revert to using charcoal and firewood for cooking, a situation that scammers exploit to offer a product that is increasingly difficult to obtain.
Obregón urged to share the experience to prevent new victims, especially among the elderly: "Warn them not to give any money upfront to anyone and not to hand over the empty cylinder without having the gas in hand."
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