More than $330,000 will be returned to a husband and wife who were victims of an internet phishing scam, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
The unidentified couple, who reside in Suffolk County, had fallen prey to a scammer in Kolkata, India, and turned over their banking information, believing falls claims, the DA’s office said,
“Foreign national scammers often prey upon our residents under the belief that even if their crimes are discovered, they will be beyond the reach of American law enforcement,” DA Raymond Tierney said in a statement.
“Here, our Financial Crimes Bureau swiftly teamed up with the Suffolk County Police Department, and we were able to recover the victims’ funds within in a matter of days,” he added. “I remind everyone to be cautious about this kind of predatory behavior by opportunistic swindlers.”
Investigators say that in September, the scammer allegedly made false claims and manipulated electronic banking information from the victims, who had been convinced that hundreds of thousands of dollars were erroneously deposited into their bank account and that it needed to be refunded, according to the DA’s office.
The couple then allegedly deposited the funds into a crypto wallet, and the scammer subsequently locked them out of the account, using the victims’ money to purchase Bitcoins. Upon learning about the scam, the Suffolk County Police Department and the Financial Crimes Bureau of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office worked together to freeze the account, leading to the recovery of the victims’ life savings within days.
The DA’s office did not provide further details on the alleged scammer.
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