ICYMI: Glen Cove Employee Prevents Elderly Woman From Falling Victim to Phone Scam

A local store employee helped save an elderly Glen Cove resident $1,500 after the woman nearly fell victim to a phone scam Tuesday, Glen Cove Police say.

According to authorities, the woman received a phone call from her “grandson’s attorney” who informed her that her grandson was arrested and was being detained by the police. The scammer then told the woman he needed $1,500 to represent her grandson, police say.

The woman was ordered to purchase $1,500 worth of prepaid cards and to give the scammer the PIN numbers for the cards, police say.

The woman went to the CVS Pharmacy, located at 65 Forest Ave., to purchase the cards when an employee working the register asked the woman about the money she was spending.

The employee helped the woman realize that she was being scammed, which prevented the scammers from receiving any money.

Scammers are always finding new ways to steal residents' personal information. Sometimes you might get a caller who demands money because “your niece is in jail in Mexico,” or Carl from the IRS says you owe taxes.

It’s good for residents to stay informed on what strange tactics these criminals will come up with next.

"The one constant in almost all of these scams in the insistence upon the purchasing of these prepaid credit cards,” Glen Cove Det. Lt. John Nagle said. “Once the PIN is revealed to the criminal, the money is quickly taken from the cards and used by the scammer.”

Glen Cove Police implemented an outreach program in June to help inform the public and local convenience stores about the increasing use of prepaid cards being used in various telephone scams. Flyers were sent out to local businesses on how these scams worked and how the local businesses could help prevent some of these scams.

In this specific case, an informed employee at CVS helped an elderly resident not fall victim to these scams.

“Our hope is that our outreach program will result in even more community members being alerted to these scams before becoming another victim," Nagle said.