A Canadian man has been arrested for allegedly scamming an 86-year-old widow in Orange County out of $30,000 by posing as her grandson and telling her he would be stuck in a Mexican jail until she paid.
Daniel Marcotte was arrested in Canada on Sept. 11. Police in Seal Beach announced the arrest Wednesday.
Marcotte is awaiting extradition to the United States to face various felony charges, police said.
The victim was an 86-year-old Seal Beach woman who received a call in February from someone claiming to be her grandson, "Randy," the Seal Beach Police Department said Wednesday.
He asked her to send $15,000 in cash to "Matthew Jones" at a FedEx business office in a downtown New York Sheraton Hotel. She sent the money.
Two days later, he called again and asked for an additional $15,000, and she complied again.
A man showed up to collect the cash, using a fake Canadian driver's license with the name Matthew Jones (pictured below), police said.
The suspect was described as white, medium to heavy build, in his mid to late 30s. He had a braided goatee.
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CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this article reported that police were asking for the public's help in finding the scam suspect. That information was based on a May 2013 press release emailed erroneously to NBC4 by Seal Beach police Thursday, instead of the latest statement detailing the suspect's arrest.
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