Nassau police say they arrested a Staten Island man for scamming a 79-year-old Massapequa woman out of more than $250,000.

Detectives say the victim called a number in what she thought was an e-mail from PayPal, but it was not.

The woman was then conned into buying gold coins three separate times.

Police say someone came to her home each time and picked up the gold.

"Once that money is gone into the system, its very difficult to recover. Fortunately in this case, there's an email trace and a phone number trace," said Patrick Ryder.

Detectives say 49-year-old Siarhei Radyna was arrested after an extensive investigation.

Nassau police urge residents to be on alert and to remind vulnerable family members, friends and neighbors about potential scams.

Detectives also urge residents who think they may have been scammed to call the Nassau County Fraud and Forgery Squad at 516-573-2815, call 911 or Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS.