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The phone rang. On the other end? A promise of $18 million and a life about to change forever.
Instead, Suffolk Police said on Friday, it was the start of a calculated scam that drained more than $250,000 from a 92-year-old Central Islip man who believed he had struck it rich in the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes.
Investigators said the call came in December 2025. The man was told he had won a whopping $18 million. But first, ne needed to take care of the paperwork and pay taxes and fees.
The elderly man was instructed to write personal checks, withdraw cash and secure cashier’s checks from his bank — all under the guise of clearing the way for a huge payout that did not exist.
When the dust settled, authorities estimated, the victim had lost more than a quarter of a million bucks.
Following an investigation by the Suffolk County Police Financial Crimes Unit — with assistance from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and the NYPD Financial Crimes Task Force — detectives identified two suspects.
Oral Durloo, 31, of Brooklyn, and Brandon Nairne, 31, of Queens, were arrested Friday and charged with second-degree grand larceny. Both are being held overnight at the Third Precinct in Bay Shore and are scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on Saturday.
Police are urging anyone who believes they may have been victimized by the pair to contact authorities.
Top: inset, suspect Oral Durloo (SCPD) and main, GLI stock photo.
