New warning about scam tricking grandparents into giving away thousands of dollars
EAST NORWICH, Long Island (WABC) -- There is a new warning about a scam targeting seniors.
Police say three men tricked a 78-year-old Long Island man into giving them $80,000. It is just the latest in a series of cases using the same technique.
Officials say the con job started Tuesday when the East Norwich victim told police he got a call from a man posing as his grandson, claiming he needed money sent to him because he was in a car accident and needed to post bail and settle legal fees.
On Saturday, Florida deputies say they watched three men pick up a package with the thousands of dollars - in stacks of $100 bills sent via FedEx.
The men were immediately taken into custody - two of those suspects were from Florida, and the third was from Baltimore.
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran on Saturday announced an arrest in a separate, but similar case.
"This happened this week, our detectives jumped right on it and got this guy, and he will be held accountable," said Curran.
Prosecutors say Henri Daniel, Jr. of Allentown, Pennsylvania on Wednesday tried to scam an 86-year-old former Nassau County man who now lives in Florida. Police say Daniel claimed a victim's relative was in a car accident in Levittown and that he needed $8,700 for legal fees.
When Daniel went to pick the money up, police were waiting, and charged him with grand larceny, coercion and conspiracy.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, last year there was an alarming number of victims 70 and older who were defrauded out of huge amounts of cash.
A median amount of $9,000 was sent to people who pretended to be their grandchildren.
"We just have to remind our seniors here in Nassau County and anyone who can hear this...be on the lookout, be aware. Call another relative - If you get a call about some cataclysmic thing that's happened, confirm it."
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