Kensington Woman Pays Thousands to Phone Scammer

By Reuvain Borchardt

KENSINGTON — A senior citizen fell victim to a common phone scam, costing her $16,000 before one of the perpetrators was arrested, according to Boro Park Shomrim and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.

The 80 year-old woman, a Ukrainian immigrant who lives in Brooklyn’s Kensington neighborhood, received a call last week that her nephew was arrested after being involved in a car accident in which his vehicle had hit an expectant woman. The caller said he was an attorney assigned to represent the nephew, and required an $8,000 retainer.

The woman agreed to pay the money, and a man came to her home to pick up the cash.

One day later, the caller said he needed another $8,000 to continue representing the nephew, and the same man came to her home to pick up the cash.

Soon thereafter, the woman realized something was wrong and notified her family. They confirmed that her nephew had not been arrested, and they called 911.

Det. Vlad Machulsky of the NYPD’s 66th Precinct, who is assigned to fraud cases, set up a trap: he told the woman to use a pretense to reach back out to the caller — she claimed she needed to get in touch with her nephew and needed his new phone number. As expected, once she called, the man on the phone said he needed another $8,000. 

The same man who had picked up the cash the previous two times came again to pick up the money — but as soon as he left the home, he was nabbed by NYPD officers in plainclothes were waiting nearby.

Kevin Green, 33, of Staten Island, was arrested and charged with grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, petit larceny, and criminal impersonation, for each of the three instances in which he allegedly picked up the money from the woman.

Police believe Green was a courier, working in concert with the man who had placed the call to the victim. Upon his arrest, Green was allegedly carrying a large amount of cash besides the $8,000 he had just collected, though it is unclear if it was the cash the Kensington woman had previously given him, or money from other possible victims.

The elderly woman was the latest victim of what is known as the “Parents/Grandparents Bail Scam,” in which the callers tell the victim that their child or grandchild is in trouble with the law and needs cash for bail or lawyers’ fees.

Click here to read an in-depth Hamodia article about the proliferation of phone scams

Police and Shomrim remind people never to send money to anyone claiming a relative is in trouble and needs cash. Always call the relative yourself to find out if they are indeed in trouble, which will almost never be the case. If the caller urges you that the money is needed immediately and warns you not to try calling the relative, that is a telltale sign of a scam.

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rborchardt@hamodia.com