Man Who Scammed Elderly Nassau Woman Gets Jail Time

A Bronx man was sentenced to prison on Thursday for scamming an elderly Oceanside woman out of $45,000.

Frederik Regalado, 23, pleaded guilty on May 8 to three counts of third-degree grand larceny. He was sentenced to one to three years in prison, and was order to pay $47,500 in restitution.

“This unscrupulous defendant bilked an octogenarian out of $45,000 in one day and deserves every day in prison that he was sentenced to,” said Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas. “These so-called granny scammers prey on vulnerable seniors who believe that their family members are in trouble with the law. If you or a family member were the victim of a financial scam, please contact the NCDA Criminal Complaints hotline at 516-571-7755.”

According to Singas, around 11 a.m. on Dec. 3, 2018, an 81-year-old Oceanside woman received a call from an unknown man. The man claimed that her son was in a car crash and was arrested for DWI in Manhattan, Singas said. He then told the woman she needed to send $7,500 to bail her son out of jail, said Singas, and that a courier would pick up the money from her house. Regalado arrived at the home around 1 p.m., Singas said, pretending to be the courier, and took the money from the woman.

Two hours later, the woman received another call and was told that the judge raised the amount of bail because the person that her son had supposedly hit with his car was a pregnant woman, and the crash caused her to lose the baby. Singas said that Regalado returned to the woman's home, and she gave him another $7,500.

Later, around 5 p.m., the woman received a third phone call, claiming that the woman had to pay an additional $30,000 for medical bills. Singas said that Regalado returned to the woman's home a third time and collected the $30,000.

A few minutes after Regalado left the third time, Singas said that the woman's son called her, and she realized she had been the victim of a scam. In all, Regalado had collected $45,000 from the woman, Singas said.

After each time he collected the cash, Regalado dropped it off to an unknown person, Singas said.

If you believe you've been the victim of a phone scam, you should call the NCDA's Tip Line at 516-571-7755.

Singas also issued these tips for seniors to help them avoid becoming the victim of scams like this.

• You should be wary anytime someone calls claiming your grandchild has been arrested or was in a car accident and asks you to wire them money.
• Ask questions that are difficult to answer, like what is the name of a person's pet or what is their mother's date of birth.
• Immediately call your grandchild and other family to verify whether there is a true emergency before you wire any money.
• If you do receive a call, take the caller's return phone number and the phone number on the caller ID.
• Avoid putting personal information, like vacation or other travel plans, on social media sites.
• Grandparent Scam calls often come during school breaks and during the summer, times when a grandparent would believe a grandchild is traveling
• If you've been scammed, contact the money transfer service immediately to report the scam. The money can be retrieved if it has not been picked up yet.