MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A senior scam that’s been on the rise across the United States cost a South Florida grandfather $8,000 in cash.
“My only thought was to help him,” said 77-year-old Lazaro Suarez in Spanish. He was referring to his grandson, 20-year-old Ivan Suarez.
Lazaro Suarez said he got a call on Friday from someone claiming to be his grandson, leading him to believe it was Ivan on the phone.
The person was asking him for help, saying he had just been in an accident and hit a pregnant woman. There was panic in his voice.
“He told me it didn’t sound exactly like me, but it sounded as if I was nervous and got into a car accident,” recalled Ivan Suarez. “No one’s voice would be the same.”
Minutes after the frantic call, Lazaro Suarez’s phone would ring again. It was a man claiming to be an attorney named Henry Santiago, insisting he would need more than $8,000 to get his grandson out of trouble and keep him out of jail.
“He goes like any grandfather would, ‘OK, I’m going to help him,’” said Ivan Suarez, who is very close to his grandfather.
Lazaro Suarez went to the bank and withdrew $8,000. He then placed a call to the alleged attorney again, who instructed him to place the money in a box with a “fake” case number on it so that a courier could collect it.
Fifteen minutes after that, Ivan Suarez says a man in a maroon Lexus showed up to the home.
Lazaro Suarez is seen on camera leaving his house with the money in hand.
He gives it to the unidentified man and calls Ivan Suarez hours later to make sure he was released.
“He told me, ‘Hey, did the attorney bail you out?’” recalled Ivan Suarez. “I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’”
Miami Dade police were notified.
Just a few weeks prior, detectives busted Manuel Alfonso Lopez in another case almost identical to Lazaro’s case, down to the dollar amount.
Detectives insist there are more victims out there falling for these types of scams and are asking the public for help.
This also comes on the heels of a series of elderly scams in Westchester, southwest Miami-Dade and Hialeah where seniors were targeted for their jewelry.
Anyone with information on this most recent case should contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.