Authorities have issued a warning for seniors in both Nassau and Suffolk counties after they made three arrests in connection to scams that targeted two seniors' life savings.
In Suffolk County, acting Suffolk Police Commissioner Chief Stuart Cameron announced the arrest of two men who allegedly tried to scam an 82-year-old woman in Michigan.
Cameron said the men called the woman to tell her grandson had been arrested for a car accident in which an unborn child was killed, told her to send $10,000 to Brooklyn followed by $40,000 to an address in West Babylon.
Police said there's no known connection between the defendants and Fulton Street home in West Babylon. Cameron said often times, the scammers just pick a house that looks abandoned or might be for sale to use as a drop off point.
"Very often, they'll just choose an address at random," he said.
Police said they were tipped off about the alleged scam and waited outside of the home where they arrested 34-year-old Benson Massillon, of Brooklyn, and 35-year-old Leonard Gillis, of Baldwin, when they came to pick up the cash.
In Nassau County on Thursday, police arrested 28-year-old Romano George, of Hicksville, for allegedly stealing $86,000 from an 87-year-old woman in Westbury.
In that case, police said the woman got a bogus flyer in the mail that said she had won Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes and needed to pay "taxes and fees" to claim the price.
George was arrested when they said he returned to the woman's house to collect another $5,000.
To know more about scams that target seniors, follow this
link.