Police are on the hunt for a telephone scammer who allegedly tricked an elderly Bayside man out of thousands of dollars in cash last month.
According to NYPD reports, the crook made a call to a 79-year-old resident on May 28 at around noon, saying that the victim’s son was arrested in New Jersey and needed $9,000 in bail. The suspect told the elderly man that he would arrange for a bail bondsman to pick up payment from his house near the Clearview Expressway and 38th Avenue.
The victim went to a nearby bank, withdrew the $9,000 and headed back home. An unidentified man arrived at the residence, where the victim allegedly gave him the envelope containing the money, according to authorities. The man subsequently left the Bayside home on foot.
Later on, police learned that the man had spoken to his son, who told his father he had not been arrested. The victim then reported the incident to police.
NYPD released photos and video of the incident which show a man posed as the bail bondsman near the victim’s Bayside home. The images show the man leaving with what appears to be an envelope in his right hand.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
