Two con-artist clowns scammed a 92-year-old Long Island man out of a small fortune by tricking him into thinking he’d won an $18 million Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes, prosecutors said.
Wild-haired Brooklynite Oral Durloo, 31, and his swindler pal Brandon Nairne, 31, of Queens, got the elderly man to pay $250,000 in a phone scam where they claimed he had to pay the amount for taxes and fees before he collected his jackpot, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a statement.
“We will not tolerate criminals who prey on our seniors,” Tierney said.
“Anyone who targets the elderly in Suffolk County will be held accountable,” the District Attorney added.
The scam began in December 2025 when the unidentified elderly man first received a phone call from someone claiming to be a representative of Publishers Clearing House, officials said.
The caller allegedly told the victim he had won an eye-popping $18 million prize — but there was a catch with the taxes and fees, police said.
The senior initially hesitated, but the caller told him that a “representative” would show up at his home with paperwork to make it all official, according to prosecutors.
Durloo and Nairne claimed to be the representatives, then drove the victim to the bank where he took out the massive cashier’s check and handed it to the men, officials said.
It didn’t take long for the victim to realize he had been scammed and he later reported the crime to Suffolk County police, according to officials. who arrested the pair on Tuesday, according to officials.
Durloo and Nairne were arrested Tuesday on charges of grand larceny.
Judge Steven Weissbard ordered both men released on their own recognizance at their arraignment Saturday, as thei charges were non-bail eligible under New York law, Tierney said.
Durloo, however, won’t be walking free, as authorities said he is being held on an extraditable warrant out of Connecticut on unrelated charges.
He is due back in court Feb. 17. Nairne is scheduled to return to court Feb. 18.
“Thanks to the joint efforts between our Financial Crimes Bureau and our law enforcement partners in Homeland Security and the Suffolk County and New York City Police Departments, we were able to identify and arrest the defendants,” Tierney said.