NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A Long Island man and a Brooklyn man were arrested for allegedly trying to scam an 82-year-old woman out of $50,000, police said Thursday.
The woman, who lives in Michigan, got a call saying her grandson had been arrested and needed bail money earlier this month, Suffolk County police said in a press release.
On Aug. 20, the woman sent $10,000 in cash to an address in Brooklyn, police said.
Not long after, a man called the woman again and claimed she needed to send $40,000 in cash to an address in West Babylon to help a pregnant woman whose unborn child had been killed in a car crash, according to police.
The department's Financial Crimes Unit detectives learned about the scam and began monitoring the West Babylon home, police said.
On Aug. 25, a delivery person dropped off a package that contained $40,000 outside the home, at which point Benson Massillon, 34, of Brooklyn picked it up, according to police.
Police arrested Massillon and his driver — 35-year-old Lenard Gillis, of Baldwin — soon after, the department said.
Both men were charged with third-degree attempted grand larceny, fifth-degree conspiracy and criminal possession of stolen property, police said.
They were expected to appear in court on Thursday, according to police. Their attorney information wasn't immediately available.
The woman's money will be returned to her, police noted.
