Three men scam US grandparents out of US$24,000; money recovered from Airbnb, report says

The alleged caller, posing as the grandson, said he had been in a car crash and needed bail money, reported Syracuse.com. — Unsplash

STATEN ISLAND, New York: Grandparents in upstate New York thinking they were helping their grandson who was in jail were instead scammed out of US$24,000 (RM104,568), authorities said.

The alleged caller, posing as the grandson, said he had been in a car crash and needed bail money, reported Syracuse.com, SILive.com’s sister site.

A courier from Uber allegedly came to the grandparents’ house and collected US$9,500 (RM41,391), according to the Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office. The couple would go on to receive calls two more times asking for more money.

Three men were allegedly behind the scam, prosecutors said. The Uber drivers were unaware of the scheme.

Joel F. Mathilda, 23, of the Bronx, Jose Arony Fermin Vasquez, 28, of New Jersey, and Davide Invidia Arias, 23, of Florida, were charged with third-degree grand larceny and fifth-degree conspiracy.

The scammers had called the couple a fourth time on Thursday demanding more money, police took over the exchange and the three men were arrested, Syracuse.com reported.

The three men were found with more than US$25,000 (RM108,925) in cash at a Syracuse Airbnb, according to authorities.

Police said it’s possible there were more victims of the scam. – Staten Island Advance, N.Y./Tribune News Service