Police say two men have been arrested for an elder scam that occurred in January in Saddle Rock.
Police say an 83-year-old man received a notification on his computer saying that the device had been compromised and he needed to contact the provided number on the screen for assistance.
An unknown man stated that he worked for Microsoft and advised the victim that suspicious activity was discovered on the victim’s phone and with his personal bank account.
The man requested that the victim withdraw $16,000 in cash to rectify the problem. The victim complied and an unknown man collected the funds from the victim on Jan. 19.
The victim was contacted again for an additional $15,000 in cash and he complied. On Saturday, Jan. 20, a different man arrived to collect the money. The victim was then contacted once more, but refused to comply and contacted the police.
Detectives arrested Rong Chen, 47, of Fresh Meadows, and ZhenSheng Yu, 46, of Syosset on April 8. Both are charged with grand larceny.
Chen was released to pretrial services as grand larceny was not a bail qualifying offence. Yu was arraigned on Monday. He was also released pre-trial services and according to the DA’s office, police have texts that show they worked together on the scam.
The victim was granted an order of protection.