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Jarnail Singh, age 21, of South Ozone Park, Queens, started his scam by posing as a member of the Geek Squad, the Best Buy tech service team, Suffolk County Police announced on Friday, Feb. 2.
A 77-year-old Amityville man received an email from Singh, claiming the victim had a $399 charge.
When the victim called the number listed on the email to dispute the charges, Singh allegedly answered, directing the man to log into his bank account from his computer so that the charge could be returned to him.
However, once the victim had logged in, Singh gained access to the bank accounts and transferred $40,000 from one account to another, convincing the man that it had been an error he needed to pay back.
On Monday, Jan. 29, Singh picked up $20,000 in cash from the Amityville man’s home; the following day, the victim provided Singh with $5,000 worth of gift cards over the phone.
Then, on Wednesday, Jan. 31, police said another $20,000 was withdrawn from the man’s bank account.
On that same day, a 74-year-old woman from Bay Shore fell for the same scam. She reportedly gave Singh $13,000 in cash in a parking lot. She was called by Singh again the day after and told to withdraw another $20,000.
Suspicious of the second withdrawal, the Bay Shore victim’s bank alerted the authorities.
Police were able to intercept the transaction at a parking lot on East Main Street in East Islip, where Singh was arrested and the $20,000 recovered.
The alleged scammer is charged with both grand larceny and attempted grand larceny. He is scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Hempstead on Friday, Feb. 2.
According to Suffolk County Police, the investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone who thinks they may have been a victim of this scam is urged to contact the Financial Crimes at 631-852-6821 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.
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