Elder Fraud in New York

A 50-year-old Brooklyn man was arrested for attempting to steal $20,000 from a 68-year-old Baldwin resident through a tech support scam in which the victim received a computer warning message and was instructed to withdraw cash from his bank. The victim suspected fraud after withdrawing the funds and contacted police, leading to the arrest of Biaodi Jiang, who was charged with Attempted Grand Larceny in the Third Degree.

A 68-year-old Baldwin man lost $20,000 in a tech support scam after receiving a computer warning message and being directed to withdraw funds from his bank. Brooklyn resident Biaodi Jiang, 50, was arrested and charged with third-degree attempted grand larceny after the victim realized the fraud and contacted police.

A 40-year-old Chinese national from Queens, Hong Zhang, was arrested in Lakeville, Minnesota and jailed on $500,000 bail after allegedly collecting $670,000 in stolen cashier's checks from an elderly St. Paul man in a romance or financial fraud scheme. Investigators found over $2 million in uncashed checks, fraudulent identification documents, and multiple cellphones in Zhang's possession and connected residences, suggesting a larger operation involving multiple victims. Zhang was charged with felony theft by swindle and admitted to knowingly collecting cashier's checks not addressed to him while claiming he was picking up misdelivered packages.

A 32-year-old Queens woman was arrested for defrauding a 70-year-old victim in an elder scam where the victim was told she was involved in a crime in India and needed to withdraw funds to rectify it. The victim withdrew and wired $919,200 between June 29 and July 27, and was later instructed to purchase an additional $300,000 in gold bars before realizing the fraud and contacting police. The suspect, Tierigeli, was charged with Attempted Grand Larceny in the Second Degree.

A 70-year-old Hicksville woman lost $919,200 after receiving calls claiming she was involved in a crime in India and needed to withdraw money to resolve the matter; she was then asked to purchase an additional $300,000 in gold bars before realizing the scam. A 32-year-old Queens woman, Fnu Tierigeli, was arrested and charged with attempted grand larceny in connection with the elder fraud scheme that occurred between June and September.

A Hicksville senior was defrauded of $919,000 through a scam in which criminals posed as family members and law enforcement, then demanded an additional $300,000 in gold after the initial wire transfer. A 32-year-old Queens woman, Fnu Tierigeli, was arrested in connection with the alleged fraud scheme. The case highlights how scammers escalate demands after gaining victims' trust through initial fraudulent transfers.

A 32-year-old Queens woman was arrested for scamming a 70-year-old Hicksville resident out of $919,000 through a phone fraud scheme claiming the victim was involved in a crime in India. Between June 29 and July 27, the perpetrator convinced the victim to withdraw and wire nearly $1 million, then attempted to coerce an additional $300,000 in gold purchases before the victim contacted police. Fnu Tierigeli was charged with second-degree attempted grand larceny.

A York County man lost $47,000 to a romance scam where a 27-year-old Bronx resident posed as a grieving widow named "Lara Lafayette" on a dating app for widowed people, claiming she needed money to access an inheritance from her deceased father. The suspect, Abdul Rashid Ibraham, created fraudulent documents and bank certificates to convince the victim to send checks between March and April, before the scheme unraveled when a bank employee reported the suspicious activity. Ibraham faces felony charges including theft by deception and financial exploitation of an older adult, with investigators also discovering he used a stolen identity to open the bank account where the checks were deposited.

An elderly Black homeowner in Brooklyn has been targeted by deed fraud for years, threatening her loss of the home she has lived in her entire life. Her caregiver and partner, Tangina Stone, launched a crowdfunding campaign seeking $70,000 after promised grant funding of unspecified amount fell through, raising nearly $53,000 from over 1,000 donors to help save the property. The family is now working with legal assistance to negotiate additional time while fighting the fraud scheme.

Police in the Bronx are searching for a man who defrauded three victims in a rental scam in May, collecting a total of $3,900 in security deposits for a nonexistent apartment near the Botanical Garden. Each victim gave money to the suspect after being shown what appeared to be a legitimate apartment listing near Marion Avenue. No injuries were reported in the incident.

An 81-year-old woman with dementia lost thousands of dollars to romance scammers who contacted her via WhatsApp, Facebook, and Apple Messages over the course of a year, exploiting her loneliness following her husband's death. After family interventions and law enforcement proved ineffective, the author enrolled her in Incogni, a data-removal service that scrubbed her personal information from people-search websites and data brokers, which had been making it easy for scammers to target and manipulate her. The article highlights how scammers use publicly available personal data from online brokers to make their cons more convincing, with U.S. fraud losses exceeding $16 billion in

New York Attorney General Letitia James testified before Congress that cryptocurrency fraud complaints to her office have nearly tripled in three years, driven by scams including "pig butchering," romance schemes, and investment frauds perpetrated largely by anonymous overseas actors. James urged Congress to strengthen cryptocurrency oversight and reject the CLARITY Act, arguing it would preempt state laws and weaken state and local law enforcement's ability to prosecute crypto fraud, and she recommended requiring crypto platforms to comply with anti-money laundering requirements and hold them financially liable for consumer protection failures.

Two men from Brooklyn, New York pleaded guilty to a $750,000 theft scam targeting a Jackson County, Tennessee resident who was duped by fake Treasury Department calls into liquidating investment certificates and purchasing gold. The victim was told a courier would secure the gold until his identity threat was resolved, but after three successful thefts totaling $750,000, he contacted authorities on a fourth attempt, leading to the suspects' arrest during a controlled operation in October 2024. Both defendants were sentenced to 20 years in prison with no parole eligibility until full restitution of $750,000 is paid to the victim.

A 53-year-old Southern California woman lost thousands of dollars to online fraudsters who posted a fake rental listing for an affordable bungalow near Fullerton on social media and real estate platforms. The scam is part of a growing trend where criminals use fake listings and AI-generated content on social media to exploit people desperate for affordable housing in California's tight rental market. Police report that perpetrators often operate through untraceable accounts and from outside the country, making it extremely difficult to hold them accountable.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is taking action to combat AI-enabled scams targeting seniors, particularly those involving companion chatbots. She hosted a Senate Aging Committee hearing on the issue, sent inquiries to nine major AI companies including OpenAI and Meta about their safeguards for older adults, and introduced two bipartisan bills designed to give law enforcement and federal agencies tools to protect consumers from fraud.