$9,500 Returned To Elderly St. James Man In Thwarted Scam: Police

ST. JAMES, NY — A 79-year-old St. James man was nearly cheated out of $9,500, the Suffolk County Police Department said, warning of a phone scam attempt. Suffolk County Police Financial Crimes Unit detectives, working with members of the United States Postal Inspection Service, intercepted the cash.

The man received a phone call April 8 from someone claiming the man’s grandson was involved in a car crash and subsequently arrested, police said. The caller told the man he needed to send $9,500 in cash to an address in St. Louis, MO, to be used for his grandson’s bail, police said.

The man, who sent the cash via United States Postal Service, then spoke with his grandson and found out the call was a scam and called police. Detectives reached the New York office of the United States Postal Inspection Service, whose officials then contacted the St. Louis branch.

Postal inspectors intercepted the package before it was delivered and turned the cash over to Financial Crimes Unit detectives on April 14 to be returned to the St. James man.

"I would like to commend the efforts of the Financial Crimes Unit detectives who kept an innocent victim’s money from making its way into the hands of a scammer—a result that is not always easy," Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said in a news release. "We would like to remind people to be alert to scams such as this one, as well as those involving the IRS, Social Security and utility companies. It is also important to be aware of emerging scams relating to COVID-19."