Police are looking for two people they say have been preying on elderly people across New York City since late May, reaching out to them directly under the pretense that a family member needs thousands of dollars to be bailed out of jail, authorities say.
While one of the four cases in the pattern happened in May, the other three incidents happened earlier this month -- and cops say the thieving pair made off with ill-gotten proceeds totaling nearly $30,000 from unsuspecting senior citizens.
In each case, the NYPD says the suspects contacted victims directly, told them about the bail cash they claimed was needed and arranged to meet to pick it up. None of the family members who were purportedly in legal trouble actually were, police said.
No injuries were reported either, but the trick stole large amounts of cash. In the May 31 Queens case, cops say an 83-year-old man forked over $5,000 before learning his relative wasn't in any legal trouble as the suspect who called him had claimed.
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The other three cases happened on June 8 and 9 in Brooklyn and Queens, the NYPD said, and followed a similar pattern. In the June 8 case, cops say one of the suspects called a 77-year-old man in Borough Park and told the same lie. He ended up handing the crooks $10,679. The next day, the pair struck in Queens again, authorities say.
That time they targeted a 74-year-old woman. They asked her for $6,800, but that victim was able to reach out to her family member and figured out she was being scammed before the money changed hands. The woman confronted the suspect, police said, and he ran off. That was the only time no funds were stolen.
Undeterred, the suspects targeted another woman -- an 88-year-old -- in Brooklyn 90 minutes after the rebuff in Queens. She ended up giving them $13,900, police said.
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Authorities released surveillance images of the suspects (above). Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.
