A 46-year-old man from Annadale, Staten Island, Lin Qiu, was arrested in connection with a scheme that defrauded a Long Island senior out of $47,000, according to the Nassau County Police Department. The scam began on Monday when the 77-year-old victim, while on his computer at home in Elmont, received a prompt to call a certain phone number.
Upon calling, the victim was connected to a man claiming to represent the Federal Reserve. The impersonator advised the elderly man to withdraw all his money from his bank account due to an ongoing investigation, prompting the victim to withdraw $47,000. Two unidentified men then arrived to collect the cash.
The scam came to light after the senior received additional suspicious calls asking for $10,000 more. The victim notified the police, leading to the arrest of Qiu on Thursday afternoon. Qiu faces charges of grand larceny and attempted grand larceny and was set for arraignment on Friday in Hempstead’s First District Court.
Police are seeking two other suspects for questioning: one described as Hispanic, around 5’5” with an average build, and the other as Black, approximately 5’10” with a thin build.