Queens Man Arrested For Scamming Elderly Couple Of Nearly $10K: NYSP

BLOOMING GROVE, NY — A Queens man who preyed on an elderly couple ended up being the one taken for a ride in the end, according to police.

New York State Police say that on October 3, troopers from the Monroe barracks arrested 33-year-old Masud Rana for third degree grand larceny.

On October 1, the elderly victims received an email purportedly from PayPal saying they were charged $346.12 for an antivirus protection plan for their computer. The couple did not have a PayPal account and they did not subscribe to any type of antivirus protection plan.

They dialed the number provided in the email and spoke to a person claiming to be a customer service representative who told them to pay a fee of $200 to reverse the antivirus subscription charges. While the couple attempted to pay the charge, they mistakenly transferred $20,000 through an app they were told to download onto their computer.

When the victim told the customer service representative that they made a mistake by sending $20,000 instead of the $200, the representative agreed to reverse the charge only if the victim paid $9,900 in person.

Rana then traveled to the victim's home to collect the $9,900 in cash, state police said. His vehicle was identified through footage obtained by the elderly couple.

On October 2, state police received a fraud complaint and their investigation found that the elderly couple, both 82 years old, from Blooming Grove, were in fact defrauded out of $9,900.

Rana was arrested and arraigned at the Orange County Centralized Arraignment where he was released on an appearance ticket for a later date.

New York State Police were able to recover the $9,900 and return the money to the couple.