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PORT CHESTER, N.Y. Two separate scams aimed at the elderly have been reported in Port Chester recently and police are urging residents to be cautious of unusual phone calls.
On July 31, a 78-year-old man told police he received a phone call from a person who sounded like his grandson. The scammer told the man he was stopped by police in Niagara Falls with a large amount of marijuana in his car and was arrested. Then, another person got on the phone, representing himself as a police officer, and told the man to get his grandson out of jail would cost $3,000. When the grandfather told the officer he did not have the money, the scammer told police the amount could be reduced to $2,700.
Unfortunately, he made the move before he came to the police station and sent the money order to where they told him to, said Lt. James Ladeairous, spokesman for the Port Chester Police Department. The mans actual grandson heard about it and called his grandfather to tell him he was safe and in Arizona.
Ladeairous said he hadnt seen these types of scams happening in nearly eight months, but it seems to be popping up again.
On Monday, another scam was reported, this time by a 76-year-old man who said someone claiming to be a person by the name of Roger Williams with Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes contacted him. He was then told he had won $2.5 million. However, the man was on his way to church and was given a number to call back. When the man called the line again, a person with a Jamaican accent answered and told the man he had to pick up a money scratch pack worth $3,900 from CVS. At that point, he realized it was a scam.
Someone is working the area with this stuff and they will hit up on older people, said Ladeairous. If you get a phone call the best thing is to call us. Unfortunately these people panic and they do it and by that time its kind of late for us to get anything.
Area residents should contact their local police departments in Rye, Rye Brook, and Port Chester if they receive any suspicious phone calls requesting that money be sent.
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