Larchmont Police successfully apprehended two suspects in a sting operation designed to catch scammers targeting a 75-year-old Westchester County resident. The operation, captured on body camera footage, involved police guiding the victim through further interactions with the fraudsters after she had already withdrawn $25,000, leading to the arrest of one suspect picking up the cash and another waiting in a getaway car.
LARCHMONT, New York -- A frightening phone scam targeting a 75-year-old victim in Westchester County was stopped in its track by police, who arrested the suspects earlier this week. Dramatic body camera footage shows Monday's arrests, with one suspect pinned to the ground, and the other pulled out of a waiting getaway car.
It was a part of a sting operation coordinated by Larchmont police to catch two alleged scammers targeting a 75-year-old woman. 'Most of the times, unfortunately, these criminals get away with this,' said Larchmont Police Department Chief Chris McNerney. 'These are not random crimes. These are people that specifically target the elderly because they think they're vulnerable.'
The victim doesn't want to be identified, but on Monday afternoon, she got a popup on her iPhone telling her to call Apple support from a different line. The woman was told her bank accounts had been compromised. 'I assumed because I talked to Apple support, and they also gave me names, that this was correct,' the victim said.
The victim was told to withdraw $25,000, which she did. The caller told her someone would come to her house to pick it up. 'I was a little suspicious of it, but I figured I still had the money, so they didn't have it yet,' she said.'I was really worried. I know people who've had fraud happen, and I was really concerned,' said the victim's neighbor, Claudia Huter. 'I didn't want to see her hurt or lose money. So, I was really excited that the police jumped in right away.'
Police guided the victim through subsequent phone calls to arrange the pickup, though they weren't sure it was actually going to happen. 'Initially it was 7:00, then it was 7:30, then it was, you know, 'oh, we're just a few minutes away.' And it kept getting longer and longer,' Lt. Joe Paprota of the Larchmont Police Department.
Finally, police say Qin Lin of Staten Island picked up the cash, while Zhonglin Luo allegedly waited in the car. That's when cops moved in. 'Once we got the word, we all converged,' said Sgt. Daniel Hammond. 'It was a successful arrest. We took two in custody, and it was a good day.'
'Unfortunately, I've worked other cases where, you know, unfortunately, the victim does give money and you don't get a hold of the perpetrator,' said Det. Michael Genkerell.'I'm happy I did it,' she said. 'And I hope some people can understand what I did and be careful about it.'
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Phone Scam Elderly Targeted Sting Operation Arrests Larchmont Police
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