Police Intercept Exchange of Funds between the Victim and the Courier
Suffolk County Police have arrested a man in connection with a computer scam that defrauded a North Amityville woman of thousands of dollars.
A 65-year-old woman received an alert on her computer informing her to contact Apple Support. The woman called the number, and she was informed her bank accounts had been hacked and there was a $12,000 charge. To halt the reported withdrawal and fix the purported hack, she agreed to meet a courier at her home and provided a $17,000 payment on April 23.
The victim received a call purportedly from Apple Support on April 26 seeking an additional $10,000. The woman then called police. Financial Crimes Unit detectives responded to the woman’s house and intercepted the second exchange with a courier. The courier, Vikram Kumar, was not the same courier as the one three days ago.
Detectives charged Kumar, 26, of Bellerose, Queens, with third-degree attempted grand larceny. He is scheduled to appear at First District Court in Central Islip on a later date.
Detectives believe this is a coordinated scam involving multiple people. Anyone who believes they are a victim is asked to contact Financial Crimes at 631-852-6821.