SCAMMERS TRICK SENIOR CITIZEN: Clarkstown Grandmother Fleeced of $919

Clarkstown Police are investigating a scammer who took $919 from a 79-year woman in a mail fraud scam claiming to be “Publishers Clearing House.”

The scam told her she won a “large sum of money” from the Clearing House and to call 917-460-8046 to collect the prize. When the woman called the number a man identifying himself as “Robert Diaz” advised her to send a money order of $919 as an insurance policy to collect her winnings and he further stated a check for the prize winning would soon follow the call.

The woman received a check from “Robert Diaz,” police said, which was deposited into her checking account. She then sent the money order as planned, to an address in Philadelphia. The local woman’s bank advised her that the check had bounced and she had been scammed after she sent the check.

Clarkstown police released the following statement: “The Clarkstown Police Department is aware of the numerous frauds that many of our town residents have fallen victim to. We have been aggressively investigating these frauds but most of the suspects are outside of the United States. The FBI and the IRS have been trying to bring these fugitives to justice and bring an end to their actions.”

  Clarkstown, clarkstown police, mail fraud, Publishers Clearing House