He was issued a desk appearance ticket and will be arraigned on Feb 3.
Posted on 01/25/2022 11:33:53 AM PST by nickcarraway
A grandmother outsmarted some would-be thieves on Long Island.
Police say they intended to scam her out of thousands of dollars, but she wasn’t having it.
The quick thinking of a 73-year-old Seaford grandmother — who only wants her first name used, Jean — is being credited for taking down an alleged predator.
“I knew he was a real scammer. I just knew he wasn’t going to scam me,” Jean told CBS2’s Kiran Dhillon.
The former 911 dispatcher says Thursday morning, she received a call from someone claiming to be one of her grandsons.
The caller said he had been arrested for drunk driving and was in jail.
“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 said.
Jean says she immediately knew the call was a hoax but decided to play along for fun.
After several calls back and forth, a person claiming to be her grandson’s lawyer told her he needed $8,000 for bail.
“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,” Jean said.
In the meantime, Jean also called police.
READ MORE: Sources: Man Shot Inside Emergency Room At Jacobi Medical Center When a man pretending to be a bail bondsman arrived to collect the cash, she handed him an envelope filled with paper towels.
Waiting officers then pounced and took 28-year-old Joshua Estrella Gomez, from Mineola, into custody.
Police say Gomez was arrested and charged with attempted grand larceny in the third degree. He was issued a desk appearance ticket and will be arraigned on Feb 3.
Police says elder scams like this one are rampant.
Officers are asking the community to be on alert.
“Speak to your families. Speak to your neighbors. Visit those that are vulnerable. Let them know, don’t listen to these scams,” Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said. “These individuals sit at home and have nothing else to do but think of a way to take advantage of our elderly.”
Jean is also asking people to watch out.
“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,” she said.
She hopes her story will serve as a cautionary tale for others and is glad no one was hurt in the process.
While everything turned out OK for Jean, police say if you suspect a scammer, be sure to call the police first before arranging a rendezvous.
Lol. They gave him a desk appearance ticket. That’ll learm him!!
You beat me to it.
All I’m seeing here is denigrating the wisdom of age by hormone fueled youth- someone over 60 that isn’t addle brained being celebrated, and few take note of the marginalization until their children think one needs guardianship or euthanasia. I don’t celebrate this.
And he got a SLAP ON THE WRIST. Bet he doesn’t do that again < /sarcasm>
He was issued a desk appearance ticket and will be arraigned on Feb 3.
Grandma’s first mistake was to call the police.
Dump him naked hundreds of miles from home.
Let him figure out how to get home
…Meanwhile, grandma was mysteriously found murdered in her burnt out home. The end.
We have gotten at least two calls from males pretending to be grandsons.
The victim has to be gullible and mentally vulnerable for this scam to work.
Tarring and feathering would be too good for these criminals.
I get “The Grandma call” regularly-—
I never had any kids.
The last time, I screamed obscenities at the caller.
Kiran Dhillon needs to do a follow up story - the one how the scammer played the local legal Establishment and was out scamming grandmothers before the ticket was dumped...
Kiran Dhillon needs to do a follow up story - the one explaining how the scammer played the local legal Establishment for fools and was out scamming grandmothers before the ticket hit the bottom of his waste basket...
That’s the ending to the story we expect to see. I hope Grandma has family to stay with and is able to sell that place.
…Meanwhile, grandma was mysteriously found murdered in her burnt out home. The end.
That’s exactly what I would worry about. He and his gang know where she lives. If they are out for revenge, watch out. You don’t know who you are dealing with, in a situation like this.
What troubles me is now the perp knows her address and may seek revenge.
I have also gotten 2 such calls in the past. Now, we have caller ID. If we don’t recognize the name, we don’t pick up.
Unfortunately, some people are gullible. A woman in a town near me was taken for $10K several years ago.
“Grampa, I need help,I had an accident and I’m at the hospital and I don’t have any money with me.” Is that you Gerry? Yes. Where are you now? In Chicago. Well Gerry you got the wrong grampa, I don’t have a grandson named Gerry. ..................... Not only that why would my grandson be in Chicago, when he works in Seattle?
Nah. Criminals are basically cowards. A gang might do something but this clown is in a different State by now.
The first time they called the scammer tried to guilt me by saying “Don’t you even know your own grandson?”.
I said yes I do, and you are not him! Then I hung up.
We do have caller ID, and I love it, but sometimes these jerks take over local numbers, I think it is called “spoofing”.
One time we got a spoof call from ourselves!
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