There is no dearth of scamsters on the internet and they continue to be a menace. It's easy to fall for scams these days, but one grandmother has shown us how we can be more careful and sharp-eyed.?
A 73-year-old woman from Long Island, New York, tricked a suspected scammer who pretended to be her grandson in desperate need of bail money following a driving under the influence (DUI)?arrest.?
Jean Ebbert, a former 911 agent, got a call on Thursday from a man posing as her relative claiming that he was in jail for drunk driving and that he needed $8,000 for bail.
Ebbert says she knew that she didn¡¯t have a grandson who was old enough to drive and knew it was a scam but decided to keep playing along anyway despite her family members telling her to hang up.??
¡°I knew he was a real scammer. I just knew he wasn¡¯t going to scam me,¡± Jean told CBS2.
¡°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,¡± she added.?
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 the?police.
When the man showed up at Jean¡¯s house, she handed him an empty envelope full of paper towels before officers swarmed him in an exchange that was captured on her Ring doorbell camera.??
The man was identified as 28-year-old Joshua Estrella Gomez of Mineola, New York, who was arrested and charged with attempted grand larceny in the third degree.??
"Speak to your families. Speak to your neighbours. Visit those that are vulnerable. Let them know, don¡¯t listen to these scams," Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder?warned. "These individuals sit at home and have nothing else to do but think of a way to take advantage of our elderly."??
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