Two Arrests Made in Larchmont
From the Larchmont Police Department:
On Monday, April 13th, Larchmont Police Department officers arrested two men following a targeted phone scam that attempted to defraud a 75-year-old village resident of $25,000 in cash.
At approximately 6:30 PM, a neighbor alerted police after becoming concerned that the victim was being manipulated by a fraudulent caller posing as a Bank of America representative. The caller falsely informed the victim that her cellphone had been hacked and that scammers were processing a $25,000 transaction from her account. She was instructed to withdraw that amount in cash and hold it for pickup by a purported bank representative.
Larchmont officers, quickly recognized the hallmarks of a “money mule” scam and developed a plan to intervene. At approximately 8:35pm, a white Toyota Venza arrived at the residence. A male exited the vehicle, approached the front door, and received the packaged funds from the victim. As the individual returned to the vehicle, officers converged and took both the collector and the vehicle’s operator into custody without incident.
The two suspects — Qin Lin, 37, of Staten Island, and Zhonglin Luo, 45, of Brooklyn — were placed under arrest and are being held pending arraignment. Both face charges of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree and Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Third Degree, both Class D felonies, as well as Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, a Class A misdemeanor.
The Larchmont Police Department commends the alertness of the reporting neighbor and the cooperation of the victim, whose composure during a frightening experience was instrumental in bringing the suspects to justice. Residents are reminded that legitimate financial institutions will never instruct customers to withdraw cash and hand it to a representative at their home. Anyone receiving such a call is urged to hang up and contact their local police department immediately.