Brandon A. Massey (left) and Jamal Clifford Davis (right) (Hall County Sheriff’s Office)
HALL COUNTY, Ga. – Police arrested two New York men for trying to defraud tens of thousands of dollars from at least one elderly Georgia couple.
Brandon A. Massey, 23, of Springfield Gardens, New York, was charged with elderly exploitation, escaping / attempting to escape a police officer, obstruction of a police officer and reckless driving, and Jamal Clifford Davis, 28, of Queens Village , New York, was charged with exploiting an elderly person.
Hall County MPs said Massey and Davis tried to cheat a couple out of $ 12,000. When law enforcement agencies found out about the fraud, MPs set up a stab in the victim’s home on September 9.
Davis was taken into custody without incident, MPs said, but Massey tried to answer the call when MPs arrived at the scene. Investigators said they could have blocked Massey with one of their patrol cars.
Investigators were quick to link the two men to similar incidents in Counties Walton, Fannin and Hart, with those jurisdictions making more arrests. The FBI and IRS have also joined the investigation, which is tracing the fraudster’s base of operations into New Jersey and New York, with their network stretching as far as Nebraska.
Investigators say the scam started with a phone call, usually aimed at seniors. The caller usually tells them that a family member, usually a grandchild, was in legal trouble and needed a large sum of money, usually more than $ 10,000, to get bail or pay legal fees. Investigators said the scammers would usually send a few “agents” to the victim’s home to collect the money.
Hall County MPs ask anyone who may have received a similar scam phone call to call investigators at 770-297-4686.
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