A man tried to scam a Long Island grandmother but she lured him into her house and got him arrested

Jean, 23, from Long Island, lured some thieves into her home before having them arrested. Thursday morning, she was at her home when she received a phone call from a man claiming to be her grandson. He stated he was in jail for drunken driving. He required her assistance in posting an $8,000 bond, reports The Washington Post. However, the former 911 dispatcher quickly caught the lie as all her grandsons were too young to drive. She quickly decided to have him arrested and formulated a plan. She told CBS New York, "I knew he was a real scammer. I just knew he wasn’t going to scam me."

She added, "I told him I had the money in the house, and I figured, he’s not going to fall for that. Well, he fell for that hook, line and sinker." She quickly contacted her daughter and best friend, who work at a 911 call center. They contacted the police and two officers arrived at Jean's home in no time. A few moments later, an apparent bail Bondsman came to collect cash from her. She gave him an envelope filled with paper towels and immediately after, the police pounced on him. The man was later identified to be Joshua Estrella Gomez, 28, from Mineola. 

According to Jean, she spoke with a couple of people on that day, one of whom claimed to be from the Nassau County court system and another who was supposed to be a lawyer called Matt Levine. Jean's residence, full name, and age were all known to the self-identified lawyer, per Newsday. The scammers continued to call her until Gomez arrived at her doorstep wearing a beanie, a camel-colored coat, and dark pants. 

According to police, Gomez was detained and charged with attempted third-degree grand larceny. He was given a desk appearance ticket and will appear in court on February 3. It is not confirmed whether he has an attorney yet. As per the FBI, elder fraud is extremely common in the United States in which millions of senior citizens fall to scams. According to the 2020 Elder Fraud Report, there was a loss of $1 Billion in that year, which has increased drastically due to the pandemic.

FBI Assistant Director Calvin Shivers wrote in the report, "Each year, millions of elderly Americans fall victim to some type of financial fraud or internet scheme, such as romance scams, tech support fraud, and lottery or sweepstake scams." He added, "Criminals gain their targets’ trust or use tactics of intimidation and threats to take advantage of their victims." Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder also asked the community of Long Island to be on alert and avoid these scams. He said, "Speak to your families. Speak to your neighbors. Visit those who are vulnerable. Let them know, don’t listen to these scams." He added while speaking to CBS New York, "These individuals sit at home and have nothing else to do but think of a way to take advantage of our elderly.” 

Jean adopted quick thinking and took action to avoid getting robbed of $8000 by Gomez. She also asked everybody to stay cautious. She said, "I feel like — 'Gotcha', and I feel like, like you say, so many people fall for this and you only hear about it on the other end after they’ve lost $8,000."