A Chinese man from Brooklyn was arrested on Thursday at Franklin Square for allegedly defrauding an 80-year-old woman from Long Island of up to $200,000 in cash and gold bars and violating Nassau County’s mask-wearing regulations.
According to the investigation by Nassau County Police Department’s Anti-Fraud and Forgery Division, the case began when a resident of Long Island received a text message claiming that their Apple ID had been compromised. The victim then contacted a man claiming to be a representative from Chase Bank using the phone number provided in the text. The scammer falsely claimed that the victim’s account had been hacked and that he was working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on the case.
The man instructed the victim to hand over valuables to him for “safekeeping.” Between October 10 and December 6 this year, the victim met with the man multiple times and handed over cash and gold bars valued at approximately $203,000.
On December 19, the man contacted the victim again, arranged a meeting, and requested that she hand over gold bars worth $80,000. He even provided the name of an FBI agent and a password for the handover to increase credibility. However, the victim began to have doubts and contacted the authorities to report the incident.
After a thorough investigation, the police arrested the 40-year-old suspect, Zun Huo Shao, whose address is in the Seventh Avenue of Sunset Park in Brooklyn. Shao is charged with grand larceny and attempted theft, as well as for violating Nassau County’s latest Mask Transparency Act, which prohibits individuals from wearing masks in public places to conceal their identity.
Shao appeared for arraignment at the First District Court in Hempstead on Friday. The police are reminding the public to remain vigilant and avoid falling into similar scams.