Police say a group of scammers worked together to fleece a 92-year-old woman out of more than $300,000, pretending to be law enforcement and scaring her into thinking her grandson was in jail.

Among the five people arrested and charged with grand larceny are two New Jersey residents — Marquelle Collins, 28, of Bound Brook and Sylvester Odiase, 34, of Edgewater.

Harrison, N.Y. police say they — along with Rachell Odiase (Sylvester Odiase's mother), 54, of the Bronx, Cecilia Rivera, 32, of Brooklyn, and Brittany Yearling, 32, of Missouri — ran the so-called "grandma scam," coordinating across several states.

Seveal of those arrested are originally from Nigeria "which is a known hotbed for phone and internet scams," police said.

According to police, they began a three-month investigation after being contacted by the elderly woman. She'd received a call from someone claiming to be a police sergeant, saying her grandson was incarcerated, and she'd need to deposit money into accounts to get him out.

By the time the grandmother knew what was going on, the scammers had $300,000 of her money, police said.

Harrison Police used electronic and physical surveillance to track down the suspects, which led them throughout the tri-state area and to Texas, where arrests were made, police said. Search warrants were also executed in the Bronx and in New Jersey, where more evidence was found and seized, police said.

Police didn't say what specific evidence tied those arrested to the crime.

Harrison Police said the "grandma scam" or "grandparent scam" is believed to have originated in Canada. There are several variations on the scam, including ones in which targets are asked to load up prepaid cards, such as the ones Walmart offers, so that those accounts can be drained.

"The fact of the matter is that these people were very persuasive," Harrison Police Chief Anthony Marraccini told LoHud.com.

The Westchester District Attorney's Organized Crime Division, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and the Missouri City, Texas Police Department were also involved in the investigation.

All five have waived extradition and were returned to New York. Sylvester Odiase and Rachell Odiase were awaiting arraignment, and Collins and Yearling are awaiting their next court appearance, as of Tuesday. Rivera was being held at the Westchester County jail in lieu of $100,000 bail, police said.

 

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