Crime & Safety
Elderly New Yorkers Targeted By Telephone Scammers In Citywide Scheme
Two men scammed three seniors out of nearly $30,000 by telling them their loved ones were in jail and needed bail money, police said.
NEW YORK CITY — Elderly New Yorkers are receiving phone calls from a pair a scammers who demand tens of thousands of dollars to bail their loved ones out of jail, according to police.
The scammers collected nearly $30,000 from three older New Yorkers in Queens and Brooklyn over two days in late May and early June, police announced late Tuesday night.
A Bensonhurst woman, 88, handed over the most money on June 9 when the scammers convinced her to pay $13,900 to get a family member out of jail, police said.
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One of the men met her at 18th Avenue and 62nd Street, grabbed the cash and drove off in an Infiniti sedan, according to the NYPD.
A Queens Village woman, 74, also received a demand for $6,800 in bail on June 9 but she called her family and discovered the men who called were lying, police said.
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The first senior targeted was an 83-year-old man in Bayside, Queens, who gave the men about $5,000 on May 31 near 59th Avenue and 223rd Street, police said.
On June 8, a 77-year-old man gave the scammers $10,769 for "bail money" on the corner of 12th Avenue and 49th Street in Borough Park, according to the NYPD.
Police released photos of two suspects on June 28 and asked anyone with information contact the NYPD.
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