Bronx man stole thousands from Long Island woman in phone scam last year, Suffolk police say

A Bronx man was arrested on Tuesday for an alleged phone scam last year in which he called a Center Moriches woman, pretended to be a Chase bank representative and stole thousands of her dollars, according to the Suffolk County Police Department.

The man,   Servando Ruiz Cuenca, 45, is accused of h aving called the woman, 65, on Sept. 30 and "purported to be a Chase bank representative claiming her account had been compromised," a department news release said, "and the woman was instructed to transfer $44,000 into another account."

The release implies, but does not explicitly say, that she then made the transfer. The account to which the money was transferred was Ruiz Cuenca's, which is how he was later caught, police said in an email.

"A short time later, withdrawals were made at two Chase bank branches in New Jersey totaling $28,000," the release said. The woman "immediately reported the incident to police" and the remaining $16,000 that had not yet been withdrawn was recovered, according to the release.

Police did not say why more than seven months elapsed between the alleged theft and the arrest in the case, nor how Ruiz Cuenca happened to target the woman, whose name was not disclosed. The release also did not say how the money was transferred — whether via Zelle, wire or other means.

Ruiz Cuenca, who is charged with third-degree grand larceny, is to be arraigned on Wednesday at First District Court in Central Islip. He was arrested with the help of the NYPD’s warrant squad. The release does elaborate about why the warrant squad was involved.

Eli Finkelson, a spokeswoman for bank parent company JPMorganChase, told Newsday she was looking into the case.

Scams that start with a phone call — compared with social media or email — represent the highest per-person loss reported to the Federal Trade Commission, about a $1,500 median loss, according to a 2025 report by the agency, which found 2024 losses overall totaled $12.5 billion, a 25% increase over the previous year. 

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.