Suffolk Couple Bilked Of Thousands In Foreign Phishing Scam See Money Returned: DA

FARMINGVILLE, NY — The Suffolk County District Attorney's office recovered over $330,000 for a Farmingville couple who were caught up in a phishing scam run out of India, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The husband and wife had the funds stolen back in September by a Kolkata-based scammer who made false claims while manipulating electronic banking information to convince the couple "that hundreds of thousands of dollars had been erroneously deposited into their bank account and that it needed to be refunded," according to prosecutors.

The "well-meaning" couple deposited the funds into a crypto wallet, and "the scammer then locked them out of the account," using their money to purchase Bitcoins, prosecutors said.

Suffolk police and the DA's Financial Crimes Bureau worked together to freeze the account when they were notified about the scam by the couple, according to prosecutors.

The quick actions of the investigative team resulted in the recovery of the couple's life savings "within days," DA Ray Tierney 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,” he said. “Here, our Financial Crimes Bureau swiftly teamed up with the Suffolk County Police Department, and we were able to recover the victims’ funds within a matter of days. I remind everyone to be cautious about this kind of predatory behavior by opportunistic swindlers.”

Tierney said residents need to be reminded that scammers "are constantly engaged in this type of conduct."

He further warned them not to give out personal or banking information over the phone, saying that if anyone asks for personal or banking information, residents should contact their bank directly, and if they suspect they are the target of a scam, the police should be notified.