Thursday afternoon, an elderly woman from Seaford, Long Island shocked her community when she gave a scammer a taste of his own medicine.
The 73-year-old Grandma that goes by Jean received a call Thursday morning from a man that claimed to be her grandson.
During the call, the man claimed he was arrested for drunk driving and needed money for bail.
Jean told WCBS that she instantly knew that it was a hoax.
“He started calling me grandma, and I don’t have a grandson who drives, so I knew it was a scam,” Jean told reporters.
Knowing it was a scam, Jean decided to play along while also getting authorities involved to catch the scammer in his tracks.
After many calls back and forth, a man that claimed to be her grandson’s lawyer told Jean that he needed $8,000 for his bond.
Jean then told that man he could pick the money up from her house.
“I told him I had the money in the house, and I figure he’s not going to fall for that. […] Well, he fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker.”
When the man arrived at her property, Jean proceeded to hand him an envelope stuffed full of paper towels.
To his dismay, as the man began to walk away, awaiting police jumped out and arrested the man now identified as 28-year-old Joshua Estrella Gomez.
Authorities say Gomez now faces attempted grand larceny charges.
According to the FBI, millions of elderly Americans fall victim to fraud schemes each year.
With the cases of yearly elderly fraud cases on the rise, Jean told reporters that she was happy she had not fallen for the scam.
“I feel like, ‘I gotcha!’ I feel like so many people fall for this, and you only hear about it on the other end after they’ve lost $8,000.”
