Authorities arrested two people in connection with a tech scam that targeted an 83-year-old Long Island man, Nassau County police said Tuesday — and some of the claims against the suspects are remarkably similar to other recent incidents.
The alleged crime in question dates back to mid-January but the defendants, 47-year-old Rong Chen of Fresh Meadows and 46-year-old ZhenSheng Yu of Syosset, were arrested Monday. Yu was arraigned Tuesday on grand larceny charges, and pleaded not guilty. Chen was arraigned on the same charges a day before.
The pair is accused of scamming a Great Neck man out of $31,000.
According to detectives, the duo sent a popup notification to the victim's computer around 1 p.m. on Jan. 18 indicating that the device had been compromised and he should call the provided number on the screen for assistance.
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“They were very convincing,” said the victim, who did not wish to be identified. “Something flashing on my computer screen that said 'your computer is completely locked,' and a [phone] number flashed on the screen."
When he called the number, the person who answered the phone claimed to work for Microsoft and told the victim suspicious activity had been detected on his phone and personal bank account. The individual asked the 83-year-old to withdraw $16,000 in cash to rectify the problem. The victim complied, and a man showed up to collect the funds the next day.
The day after that, they bilked him again -- this time for $15,000 -- with the same ruse.
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"They said one was for buying guns and one for gambling,” said the victim. "Both are for federal crimes, so before you know, [the] FBI is going to come and arrest you."
While the victim did not purchase guns or gamble, he said the speaker was very convincing. To confirm what had been said to him over the phone, the victim called his bank.
“When I called my bank to check on that, apparently they hacked my phone and rerouted to their own personnel. They said those amounts were missing and I had to replace it," the man said.
Yu was seen on cellphone video at the victim’s house allegedly making a pickup.
Police say the victim was contacted again, but he had wisened up to the scam by the third contact. He refused to comply and called the police, who came to his Nassau County home to make the arrests.
Information on possible attorneys for Yu and Chen wasn't immediately available.
Those were the most recent arrests in a troubling string of scams. On Saturday, 39-year-old Xiuyu Dong, of Brooklyn, was charged for attempting to scam a Manhasset woman out of $10,000. Prosecutors alleged the victim was contacted by the so-called fraud department of a bank, and that if she did not pay she would be arrested by the FBI and that “snipers” were outside of her house.
In the first week of April, 31-year-old Yongkang Weng, also of Brooklyn, was arrested before he could steal $30,000 from a 67-year-old woman after falsely telling her that she owed that money from a gambling debt.
Police declined to speak to NBC New York regarding the most recent alleged scam, but the victim said this can happen to anyone and he hopes others will learn from his loss.
“The cops should find out who is the mastermind of this thing and go after them," the victim told News 4.
Anyone with information on the scam — or believes they may have been a victim — is urged to call Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS.
