A 73-year-old grandmother who described herself as a ‘bored grandma’ turned the tables on a scammer after he called her and pretended to be her grandson.
Speaking to CBS New York, Jean said that the suspected elder scammer told her that he needed bail money following a DUI arrest.
“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 said.
But instead of ending the call, the retired 911 operator played along and lured the bad guy into a trap.
Footage showed the impressive outcome of Jean’s plan, showing two police officers catching the scammer and tackling him to the ground when he tried to leave, holding an envelope containing paper towels instead of the $8,000 bail money he wanted.
The suspect has been identified as 28-year-old Joshua Estrella Gomez from Mineola. He was arrested on a charge of attempted grand larceny.
The incident started to unfold when Jean received a call from the suspect claiming to be her grandson. The man said that he was driving under the influence and was involved in an accident.
However, all of her grandchildren are still young and none of them drives, Newsday reported.
Only moments later, Jean received another call from another man claiming to be a lawyer and asking her for $8,000 bail money.
The grandmother received a third call from another person who said that he was her grandson’s bail bondman.
“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,” the 73-year-old told CBS New York.
She then contacted the police and reported the incident.
By the time the scammer arrived to pick up the money, cops were already waiting for him inside.
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