Singapore — A 73-year-old woman pulled a fast one on scammers who told her a tall tale about her grandson, which ended up with one man getting arrested and charged.
The woman, who hails from Long Island, New York, received a call from a man who said he was in trouble and needed bail money. The caller pretended to be her grandson.
The woman, who only asked to be known by her first name, Jean, grew suspicious right away.
“I knew he was a real scammer. I just knew he wasn’t going to scam me. He starts calling me ‘grandma,’ and then I’m like, I don’t have a grandson that drives, so I knew it was a scam.”
Jean, who used to work for US emergency hotline 911, received the call from the man last Thursday (Jan 20).
And although she immediately recognised that a group of people were trying to scam her, she pretended to go along with the scheme.
Later, she got another call from a man who said he was a lawyer, who told her $8,000 was needed as bail money for Jean’s alleged grandson.
Jean said she had the money with her, but did not really believe the scammers would come over and get it.
“I told him I had the money in the house, and I figured, he’s not going to fall for that. Well, he fell for that hook, line and sinker,” she said.
And then a third man who claimed to be a bail bondsman said he would collect the money for the “grandson” from Jean’s home.
She called the police and told them about the phone calls, and they came to her residence.
When a man posing as the bail bondsman came to her door, Jean gave him an envelope full of paper towels.
The policemen, who had been lying in wait at Jean’s home, then tackled the man, 28-year-old Joshua Estrella Gomez, as he turned to leave.
He has been charged by officers of the Nassau County Police Department with attempted grand larceny in the third degree.
“I feel like gotcha, and I feel like, like you say, so many people fall for this, and you only hear about it on the other end after they’ve lost $8,000,” added Jean in an interview.
While Jean was successful in nabbing the scammer, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder asked the community to do their part in protecting vulnerable members, especially the elderly.
“Speak to your families. Speak to your neighbours. Visit those that are vulnerable. Let them know, don’t listen to these scams.
These individuals sit at home and have nothing else to do but think of a way to take advantage of our elderly.”
/TISG
Read also: Public concerned how elderly can tell difference between genuine SMS and messages from scammers
Public concerned how elderly can tell difference between genuine SMS and messages from scammers
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2022-01-24 09:00:26Z
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