Chief Mark Zimmerman reports that the North Reading Police Department apprehended and prosecuted a New York man in connection with a scheme that took thousands of dollars from an elderly resident.
An elderly town resident called the North Reading Police Department because they thought online scammers were deceiving them.
North Reading Police investigators discovered that a sophisticated online scammer had illegally gained remote access to the resident’s computer and used a series of threats and intimidation to steal more than $10,000 from the victim via digital Bitcoin transactions.
After being alerted to the theft, North Reading Police learned that the scammer was attempting to steal more money from the victim, this time by telling them that federal agents would be visiting their home to collect the remaining funds.
As a result of the investigation, North Reading Police Detectives and Patrol Officers were able to arrest 30-year-old Xuejian Wu of New York, NY, on Thursday as he arrived at the victim’s residence and identified himself as a federal agent attempting to collect the money from the victim.
Wu faced charges on Friday, including Larceny Over $1,200 by False Pretenses, Conspiracy to Commit Larceny by False Pretenses, Attempt to Commit a Crime (Larceny by False Pretenses), Attempt to Commit a Crime (Larceny from a Person), and Attempt to Commit a Crime (Larceny from a Person Over 60 Years Old).
“Arrests such as this are not common in law enforcement. These scammers are experts in targeting our senior citizen population and using threats and intimidation through technology to victimize them, and often keep them from notifying the police in time to act. In this case we were able to successfully turn the tables on a scammer who chose to target our residents, and it resulted in the successful arrest of Wu,” said Chief Zimmerman. “The North Reading Police Department will continue to prepare and train its officers in the constantly changing nature of technology-based scams which seek to victimize our residents. We will also expand on our efforts to investigate and prosecute these cases with our federal, state and local partnering agencies. If you think someone may be trying to scam you online through your phone or computer, please contact us immediately for assistance.”