Police: Nassau residents lose more than $500,000 in four scams
Nassau County police are warning residents about a series of scams in the past two weeks that led to the loss of more than $500,000 from four victims.
A 69-year-old Farmingdale woman said she received a phone call April 6 from someone claiming to be an Apple employee who told her that her computer and her accounts were hacked, police said. The caller told the woman she needed to withdraw all her money and transfer it into cryptocurrency accounts.
The woman transferred more than $500,000 of her funds before her bank told her that she was scammed and reported the loss Friday.
In a separate scam Wednesday, police said a North Merrick woman received a phone call from someone claiming to be a PSEG worker. The caller said the woman was two months late on her payments and she needed to transfer nearly $3,000 from her account using the Zelle digital app to an unknown phone number before she reported the loss to police Friday.
Another 67-year-old Seaford man reported losing several thousand dollars after transferring funds to a person he met on Facebook, police said. The man said on April 13, he was referred to someone on Facebook to ask about a government assistance program. He was told to make several transactions before he realized he was being scammed and reported it to police Saturday.
Police are also investigating an 84-year-old Bethpage woman’s loss of nearly $10,000 after a man called April 14 claiming that her grandson had been arrested. Police said the man claimed to be her grandson’s lawyer, saying he needed money to bail him out of jail. The man told the woman to withdraw $9,800 from her bank and return home, police said.
The man then called to tell her to give the money to a man waiting in a silver SUV outside her house. She later reported the scam to police Saturday.
Police warned residents to be cautious about unknown calls asking for money and to look out for vulnerable and elderly friends and family members.
Police are asking anyone with information to call Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 800-244-TIPS.
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
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