Woman Loses $9,500 In 'Grandma Scam': Greenwich Police

GREENWICH, CT — A Bronx, N.Y. man was arrested on Monday after police said he defrauded an 87-year-old Greenwich woman out of $9,500.

Armando Aquino-Jimenez, 37, is charged with second-degree larceny and interfering/resisting with officers, according to an arrest report. He was able to post his $2,500 bond and was released, the arrest report stated.

Aquino-Jimenez was given a court date in Stamford of Nov. 1.

Lt. Martin O'Reilly of the Greenwich Police Department said the elderly woman received a call from someone on the afternoon of Oct. 18 pretending to be her grandson, who said he was in a car accident and needed bail money.

The woman spoke with the supposed lawyer of the grandson, and he said he'd send a courier to collect the money at the woman's house in Riverside, O'Reilly said. The man also requested a shirt for the grandson because the one he was wearing "was covered in blood from the accident," O'Reilly said.

The woman retrieved the money and the shirt, and met the man outside, O'Reilly said. Later, she received another call from the man asking for an additional $8,000.

The man, later identified as Aquino-Jimenez, came back to her house, and the woman asked to speak with her grandson, but Aquino-Jimenez told her he was in the hospital, O'Reilly said.

"She went to call him and [the actual grandson] said he wasn't in an accident and was fine," O'Reilly said. "Some other people where this happened figured out what was going on and blocked the guy's car."

Police then arrived at the house and arrested Aquino-Jimenez. O'Reilly said it's believed that Aquino-Jimenez is the only person involved.

O'Reilly said there are a variety of scams out there that prey on elderly people. He cautioned residents to take note of suspicious phone calls.

"Always be leery of anything where people are requesting any kind of cash or gift cards immediately," O'Reilly said. "[Residents] can always call us and we can help them out and make sure it's legitimate."