Online scam costs elderly South Windsor victim nearly $50k

Story by Rob Polansky

SOUTH WINDSOR, CT (WFSB) - An elderly man in South Windsor fell victim to an online scam, police said.

It led to the arrest of 42-year-old Qiao Zheng of Brooklyn, NY on Thursday.

Police said they started to investigate a fraud complaint that was made by the 90-year-old victim on Monday.

The victim reported that he gave $49,900 in cash to a courier after he received an email from someone who claimed to work for PayPal.

The email indicated that a transaction purchase for Bitcoin had flagged the victim’s PayPal account.

After the victim contacted a “support number” in the email, a suspect accessed the victim’s computer through a fraudulent link. He requested that money be transferred into a separate account.

When that didn’t work, police said the victim withdrew the money at various bank branches for the courier to pick up at the victim’s home.

Upon being notified of the incident, South Windsor police were present in the area of the victim’s home after the suspect contacted the victim for another $20,000 and indicated a courier would arrive to pick it up in the early afternoon hours on Thursday.

A man identified as Qiao arrived and was arrested, police said.

Police charged Qiao with conspiracy to commit second-degree. He was held on a $100,000 surety bond and scheduled to appear in Manchester Superior Court on Friday morning.

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Online scam costs elderly South Windsor victim nearly $50k

Scammers Bilk Thousands From Elderly San Mateo County Resident: Police

Scammers recently duped an elderly San Mateo County resident out of thousands using an online scam, deputies said.

by  Bay City News

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — An older adult in El Granada was duped out of thousands of dollars in an online scam, the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office said Friday.

The victim replied to a computer notice that his machine had been hacked and was instructed to call a phone number, the sheriff's office said in a Facebook posting.

The victim was directed to remove cash from his bank account and buy gift cards, then meet the scammers in person at his home in the 100 block of Balboa Avenue, the sheriff's office said.

The scammers, who identified themselves as couriers, came to the residence Thursday separately and at different times. One was described as an Asian man in his early 20s, with blonde or pink hair, the sheriff's office said.

Deputies took a separate but similar report in El Granada earlier this week. In that case, the target received a message on his computer stating that the device had been compromised.

The scammer then called the target and instructed him to withdraw a significant amount of money from his bank account.

The victim recognized this was a scam and reported the attempted fraud to the sheriff's office.

Anyone who is directed to withdraw money or purchase gift cards should stop immediately and call law enforcement, the sheriff's office said.

Anyone with information about these crimes is asked to contact the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office at 650-363-4911.

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Scammers Bilk Thousands From Elderly San Mateo County Resident: Police