Swindler Gets Minnesota Grandma To Send $10K Cash To Teaneck In 'Grandparent Scam': Cops

TEANECK, NJ — A scammer was nabbed in Teaneck last month after trying to con a Minnesota grandmother out of $10,000 cash, police said Wednesday.

On the morning of April 22, according to the Teaneck police, officers a call from the Shakopee Police Department in Minnesota about a scam that had occurred the day before.

Subscribe

Police said that a resident had gotten a call from someone pretending to be her grandson.

The "grandson" told the woman that his friend had been involved in a car crash and needed $10,000 for legal fees and to get the vehicle out of the police impound lot.

The grandma was asked to send $10,000 cash via United Parcel Service (UPS) overnight delivery. She was told to carefully wrap the cash and send it to an address in Teaneck.

The Teaneck Police Department Detective Bureau’s General Investigations Squad confirmed that the package hadn't been delivered yet, and that the address was a vacant home that was for sale.

Police waited near the home.

Just before noon, police spotted a car with New York license plates. A man got out and picked up the package from the front steps, police say.

They arrested Zhenye Chen of Bellerose, N.Y. During a search, they found cocaine on him, they said.

He was charged with:

• Theft
• Theft by deception
• Impersonation
• Possession of cocaine
• False government documents
• Money laundering
• Possession of drug paraphernalia

Police also recovered the $10,000 in the package.

During the course of the investigation, police were able to link Chen to a previous package theft and fraud investigation on April 16.

In that incident, a victim from Missouri mailed $4,000 to a Teaneck address after being told her bank account
was compromised, police said.

The "Grandparent Scam" is a known national scam that has tricked people throughout the area into sending money to swindlers, who are sometimes able to record the grandchild's voice by calling and hanging up. Others claim to be a friend. One such scam bilked a Glen Rock resident out of $15,000 in 2024. Read more about that here.