Nassau Police Warn of Scammers Stealing Thousands from Residents
Four phone scams that took place over the course of two weeks claimed thousands of dollars from Nassau County residents this month, the Nassau County Police Department said on Monday.
As a result, the police department and county have alerted the public to a number of different phone scams, including where the scammer tries to convince victims that they must provide their bank account information for a lottery payment, to recoup money from fraudulent activity, to get a relative out of jail, for home improvement, or other false claims.
“Nassau County Executive Bruce A. Blakeman and Commissioner of Police Patrick J. Ryder would like to remind our residents to be aware that there are numerous scams circulating around Nassau County aimed at our seniors,” the alert said. “Illegal scams cost honest citizens thousands of unrecoverable dollars.”
Recently, phone scams in which victims have lost money have occurred in North Merrick, Seaford, Bethpage, and Farmingdale, according to Nassau police.
On April 13, a 69-year-old Farmingdale woman was contacted by a scammer posing as an Apple employee claiming that her computer’s accounts were compromised and she needed to transfer all of her money into cryptocurrency accounts to keep it safe, according to police.
The victim complied, making several trips to Connecticut to transfer $500,000 from her account. Her bank informed her she was scammed, and she reported the incident to police on April 21, police said.
On April 14, a scammer posing as a lawyer called an 84-year-old Bethpage woman claiming that her grandson was arrested and needed money to be released, police reported. The suspect instructed the woman to go to the bank and take out $9,800.
He then called her back and told her to hand him the money outside her residence. He is described as an Asian man in his 40s driving a silver SUV. The woman later realized it was a scam and reported the incident to police on April 22.
The North Merrick victim was contacted by a male suspect who claimed he was from PSEG Long Island electric company on April 19, police said. The scammer told the victim she was two months late on her bill and instructed her to pay nearly $3,000 through Zelle. The victim complied, then became suspicious and reported the incident to police on April 21.
In another recent incident, a 67-year-old Seaford man was scammed out of thousands of dollars through Facebook on April 13, according to police. The victim was told he qualified for a government program and needed to send money to apply.
Nassau police are also warning of scams that trick residents through pop-ups on their computers or smart TVs. The pop-up will claim that the user cannot sign into their account due to an unpaid bill or computer virus.
The scam then instructs victims to call a number and download the AnyDesk app, which will allow the scammer access to the computer or television and to the victims’ personal information.
Police are asking anyone with information about the fraud incidents to call Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS or call 911. All tipsters remain anonymous.
