Recently, the New York City Police Department revealed a series of incidents involving teenagers falsely soliciting donations for a basketball team and using the Zelle mobile payment app to transfer money from your account. On Wednesday, the latest case in Central Park in Manhattan was made public, urging the public to be vigilant and provide clues to solve the case.
According to information released by the New York City Police Department’s DCPI, around 1:30 pm on Tuesday, May 21st, a 23-year-old woman was walking near West 101st Street and West Drive in Central Park when four teenagers approached her, claiming to be fundraising for a basketball team and requesting donations.
The teenage criminals told the victim that their basketball team accepted payments through mobile payment apps like Zelle and then asked the woman to hand over her phone to one of them to enter the account information on the app. Before the woman retrieved her phone, one of the suspects had already transferred an undisclosed amount of cash via Zelle to another bank account. The teenagers then dispersed in different directions, and thankfully, no injuries were reported in this incident.
Police released clear front-facing photos of two suspects and urged anyone with information to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-8477 or visit the Crime Stoppers website: https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or submit tips on the NYPD Tips platform @NYPDTips. All calls will be kept strictly confidential.
This incident on the 21st bears a striking resemblance to a case that occurred on the 17th in Madison Square Park in Manhattan, where former beauty pageant contestant Briana Siaca was also approached by two teenagers claiming to fundraise for their South Bronx basketball team while she was listening to a podcast and relaxing in the park.
Due to the suspects’ detailed explanation and only requesting five dollars, Siaca, who did not have cash on her, unsuspectingly agreed to transfer money via Venmo and Zelle. Subsequently, one of the suspects volunteered to input their account information on Siaca’s phone while the other teenager engaged her in conversation to distract her.
Upon the suspects’ departure, Siaca checked her account and discovered that they had transferred $2,000 without her knowledge.