A New Jersey man who is accused of scamming an elderly Falmouth woman out of nearly $5,000 has been arrested in New Jersey and is awaiting extradition to Maine to face several charges, including felony theft by deception.

Rheimy Diaz-Tolentio of Paterson, New Jersey, was arrested in New Jersey on Jan. 17 on a warrant from Falmouth police charging the 21-year-old with felony theft by deception, as well as the misdemeanor charges of impersonating a public servant and harassment by telephone, according to a statement issued by Lt. John Kilbride of the Falmouth Police Department on Monday.

The 90-year-old victim was defrauded out of nearly $5,000 in July 2017 after receiving a phone call that falsely informed her that her grandson had been arrested for drunken driving, Kilbride said. He did not describe the details of the scam.

Investigators were able to identify Diaz-Tolentio as the suspect and issue an arrest warrant with support from the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office.

Falmouth detectives located numerous other victims from across the United States during the course of their investigation.

Kilbride reminded the public to be aware of telephone and email scams, especially with tax filing season rapidly approaching. He said the Internal Revenue Service will not demand money over the phone or ask you for debit or credit card information.

Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at;

dhoey@pressherald.com