Elderly woman scammed out of nearly $10,000 in Hamilton, NJ

HAMILTON (Mercer) — Two individuals from New York have been arrested in connection with a phone scam that attempted to take nearly $10,000 from an elderly township resident.

Raul Santos-Marte, 39, and Karina De Los Santos-Polanco, 34, turned themselves in on March 21, nearly three weeks after the incident.

According to authorities, an elderly woman received a phone call on March 1 from someone pretending to be her nephew. The individual stated that he was arrested for drunk driving after hitting a pregnant woman.

The scam deepened, officials say, when another man got on the phone and claimed to be an attorney, stating that he'd need $9,800 in cash in order to represent the woman's nephew.

The woman complied, and approximately 2 hours later the cash was picked up. The woman soon realized she was being scammed and reported the incident to township police.

An investigation revealed Santos-Marte and Santos-Polanco as the individuals who picked up the cash.

Hamilton police are urging residents to be weary of calls that demand cash. Anyone with additional information about Santos-Marte and Santos-Polanco is being asked to contact Detective Nicholas Schulte at 609-581-4030 or nschulte@hamiltonpd.org.

Dino Flammia is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at dino.flammia@townsquaremedia.com