A Brooklyn man has been arrested for an attempted grand larceny in Franklin Square.
According to detectives from Nassau County Police’s Fraud and Forgery Unit, a female victim, 80, received a text message stating she was the victim of fraud regarding her Apple ID. She called a provided phone number and spoke to a male claiming to be a representative of Chase Bank. The male advised the victim he was working with the FBI, that her account had been compromised and she was directed to give her money to him for safekeeping. The victim met an unknown male multiple times between October 10 and December 6, giving him U.S. currency and gold bars approximately valued at $203,000.
On December 19 at 12 p.m., the same male contacted the victim again and arranged a meeting to accept additional gold bars, valued at $80,000. The victim was provided the FBI agent’s name and was given a password to ensure the correct person was receiving the gold bars. The victim became suspicious and contacted the police.
A thorough investigation was conducted and Zun Huo Shao, 40, of 5515 7th Avenue, was arrested without incident.
Shao was charged with second-degree attempted grand larceny and violating the Title-90-Mask Transparency Act. He was scheduled to be arraigned on December 20 at First District Court in Hempstead.