Published: December 10, 2008 11:31 pm      

CITY OF TONAWANDA: Scammers target two seniors

Scammers recently targeted two City of Tonawanda senior citizens, and police are urging elderly residents to take greater precautions as a result.

An 82-year-old Morgan Street man with early signs of dementia lost $1,025 between Nov. 5 and Dec. 8 by wiring money to Jamaica, all in the hopes of claiming a luxury car and millions of dollars in cash several callers said he won. Police say he could have lost more money were it not for an alert supermarket clerk who became concerned about what the man was doing.

Tuesday, the son of an 89-year-old Canton Street resident reported to police that two antique rings were stolen from his mother’s home last month. The incident occurred Nov. 17, when a woman knocked on the victim’s door and asked if she had any clothing to donate to a charitable organization.

The victim let the woman into her home and, after a short time, the female scammer asked to use the bathroom. That should have sent up another red flag, said Tonawanda Police Lt. Fredric Foels.

“That’s one of the biggest ruses — ‘Oh, by the way, I have to use the bathroom,’” he said. “Then the diversion comes.”

Minutes later, the diversion came when a man claiming to be with “the power company” knocked on the door and said he needed to check the power.

The man wasn’t wearing a uniform and also didn’t present identification, but the victim also let him in the house and directed him to the basement, another definite no-no, police warn. “No. 1, don’t let anyone in your house, especially if they don’t have proper ID,” Foels said.

As soon as the woman left the bathroom, she said she would return a few weeks later to pick up the clothing donation and left the house at the same time as the man claiming to be from the power company.

Police reports state the victim’s two rings — both more than 50 years old and valued at a total of $3,500 — were on the bathroom sink at the time the woman asked to use the bathroom. The victim didn’t immediately notice that the rings were missing.

“Undoubtedly, these two are working together in concert,” Foels said of the two scammers. “It’s a classic diversion case, and here they preyed on someone elderly.”

Police at least got a description of the two suspects and notified other area police agencies to be on the lookout for a similar scam. The Morgan Street man, however, never saw who was swindling money from him.

The victim, 82, received calls from several different people, all claiming to be part of a sweepstakes held in Jamaica. The callers said that if the elderly man kept sending wire transfers through Western Union, he’d get a check for $16,000 and a silver BMW.

Police were called to the Niagara Street Tops on Tuesday to interview the victim about why he was again wiring money to Jamaica. Police say a customer service desk clerk became concerned that the man was being scammed, so she called authorities.

According to police, the victim wired money from Tops six times between Nov. 5 and Tuesday, sending $100 to “Stafford Gorden on Nov. 5, $200 to Gorden Nov. 10, $375 to Beverly Campbell on Nov. 12, $100 to Gorden on Friday, $500 to Brenton Griffiths on Monday and $250 to Aleiko Wright on Tuesday. Tops put a stop on the last transfer, allowing the victim to reclaim that money.

Police credited the employee for her actions. “Here’s a clerk at Tops who sensed something was wrong and had the goodwill to call police, so kudos to her,” Foels said.

While police were at Tops on Tuesday, the victim received three calls claiming that if he sent additional money, he would get $10 million. When told that police were investigating the calls, the caller hung up.

The National Consumers League’s National Fraud Information Center notes that it is illegal for companies to require someone to buy something or pay a fee in order to win a prize.

It also advises people to get the details of a sweepstakes in writing, and to be especially wary of foreign sweepstakes companies.

Tonawanda police held a news conference last month to warn residents about a check scam popping up, swindling thousands of dollars from area residents.

Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.