Elderly Woman Loses $310,000 to Bank Fraud Caller in Staten Island Scam

An elderly woman in Staten Island has fallen victim to a sophisticated scam, losing approximately $310,000 to a caller impersonating a Santander Bank fraud department representative.

The incident occurred on August 14, when the woman received a call from someone claiming her bank account had been compromised. Following the instructions of the caller, she wired the substantial sum to a Bank of America account.

Upon realizing the scam, she contacted Santander, which managed to cancel another attempted wire transfer of $447,200. The NYPD is currently searching for Luis Irahera, 34, who is described as 5 feet, 4 inches tall, weighing around 200 pounds, with short black hair, brown eyes, a black beard, and tattoos on his right forearm and left wrist.

Authorities urge anyone with information about Irahera to contact the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

In a related case, police are also seeking Breider Iriarte Campomar, who allegedly posed as a Chase Bank employee and defrauded a grocery store worker of tens of thousands of dollars.