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Yash Shah, of Baldwin, was arrested on multiple counts of grand larceny on Wednesday, Aug. 23, according to Suffolk County Police.
Detectives said a 72-year-old Huntington woman received a notice on her computer in June 2023 informing her that her computer was “compromised” and that she needed to contact Microsoft.
The victim called who she thought was Microsoft but was actually a scammer, who told the woman that her computer had child pornography on it, police said.
After chatting back and forth, the man on the phone convinced the victim to meet a man in person and give him $35,000, according to police.
The victim eventually realized that she’d been scammed and filed a police report.
Financial Crimes Unit detectives determined that Shah was the man who picked up the money.
After getting a search warrant for his phone, investigators discovered that he had victimized another woman from Kings Park, police said.
The victim was also told that her computer contained child pornography and forked over nearly $430,000, including $277,000 worth of gold bars.
When detectives contacted the woman, she was about to deliver another $260,000 to the scammers.
She initially refused to believe that the detectives were from the Suffolk County Police Department and had to be convinced by a relative that she was being scammed.
Shah was arrested on multiple counts of grand larceny and conspiracy. He was scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on Thursday, Aug. 24.
Detectives believe he worked with others to carry out the scheme.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to contact the agency at 631-852-6821.
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