A New York man who allegedly scammed a Margate woman out of money to bail out her grandson is now in jail himself.
The Margate grandmother called police at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, saying she got a call from a man pretending to be a lawyer and saying he needed money to bail the woman's grandson out of jail, according to police.
Only Raymond Urena-Lopez, 22, then came to the woman's home, where she gave him a large amount of cash and was told she could not contact her grandson because there was a gag order, according to the report.
While the woman was talking to police, the man called her back saying the grandson was still in jail and he needed more money, police said.
Officers had the woman set up a meeting in the city, and Urena-Lopez was taken into custody at 4:15 p.m. without incident, police said.
Urena-Lopez, of Jamaica, N.Y., was charged with theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft by deception.
More charges are pending further investigation by Officer Ryan Mazzeo and Sgt. Steve Swift.
Margate City police used the incident to stress the importance of being aware of such scams and to alert police as soon as they believe they are being targeted.
The Police Department's non-emergency line is 609-822-1151.
For fraud that takes place solely online or involves wire transactions to unknown parties, the FBI requests that the victim, or attempted victim, make a report at www.ic3.gov in addition to any reports with police.
