Darien Business Scammed Out Of $90,000: Police

DARIEN, CT — An unnamed Darien business on Sedgwick Avenue was scammed out of $90,000 after someone in Dubai claimed they had accidentally wired too much money to the business and convinced the owner to refund thousands from the "overage," according to Darien Police.

The incident began when a company that went by the name "Al Manahil Trading Equipment" placed an online order on February 14, for a total of $27,500 in product.

"On February 26th, the complainant received an email from someone identifying themselves as 'Abdul Ali' purporting to be with Al Manahil Trading Equipment," wrote Darien police in a statement. "Ali informed the complainant that he accidentally wired her $118,440 instead of the $27,500, and requested a wire return for the overage in the amount of $90,895. On February 27th, the complainant went to her banking institution to wire the money as requested by Ali. She checked her account and it appeared that the overpayment had been made to her account as outlined by Ali. The $90,895 was wired to 'Khaleel Ur Rahman Abdul Khalaque' at Emirates bank in Dubai."

However, one day later on February 28, the victim's bank notified her that the original wired amount of $118,440 had bounced, according to Darien police. The department's investigation into the theft is continuing.

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