MEDLEY, Fla. – Two men from New Jersey were arrested by Medley police officers in connection with a telephone fraud scam that targeted an elderly, disabled man in Louisiana, authorities announced Wednesday.
According to police, the victim mailed $16,200 in cash to an Extended Stay hotel in Medley after he was called by someone posing as a Coral Gables attorney who told him that his nephew had been arrested and was in need of bail money.
Recommended Videos
Police said the scammer told the victim it would take $10,000 to have his nephew released from jail.
A second request for an additional $6,200 was later made, authorities said.
"In many such situations when the first payment is made so easily, alleged perpetrators often move quickly to see if more money can be obtained," the Medley Police Department said in a news release.
Police said the victim learned his nephew was not in Florida after he sent the second payment, so he contacted the Medley Police Department.
Authorities said they intercepted the package and executed "a controlled delivery," at which time they arrested the two suspects, Marcos Alamonte-Mejia, 24, and Anyulia Recio-Carmona, 28.
Both are charged with two counts of organized fraud and two counts of attempted fraudulent use of identification.
"I am proud to have my prosecutor work so closely with the Medley Police Department to interrupt these alleged fraudsters," Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement. "Far too often, our elderly citizens are targeted in such telephone rip-offs. The Medley Police Department moved quickly to grab these guys and save a well-intentioned victim from such alleged con-men."
Police remind the public to never send cash to someone if told that a family member is in trouble, but to first consult the family member in question or other relatives to verify the claims.