92-Year-Old Woman Uses Something Many Would Considered Archaic to Thwart Two Scammers

A 92-year-old Long Island, New York, woman got the last laugh when she outsmarted a pair of scammers intent on cheating her out of $3,000. And she did it using a tool many would consider archaic.

The two male scammers visited the woman, named Violet, last weekend claiming to be from a company called New York's Finest Home Improvements, WNBC-TV reports. They told her they had made an appointment with her regarding repairing her chimney. While she was pre-occupied with one of the men, the other stole some prescription drugs and $165. They then said they'd come back to do $3,000 worth of work on the chimney.

(Source: WNBC-TV screen shot)

But while the two men were gone, Violet did her homework. She went to the phonebook and looked up New York's Finest Home Improvements. When she couldn't find them listed, she contacted the police. That means when the two came back, the cops were waiting to bust them for burglary.

"It's kind of funny to us. We would use Google, or we would use the Internet," Suffolk Det. William Madigan told WNBC. "A 92-year-old woman is going to use the phone book to see if she can find the company name."

"You folks tell your folks to be careful," the elderly sleuth told the news station. "They might not realize, but they could be a victim next."