NY Man Tried To Bilk Elderly South Windsor Resident Of Nearly $70K: PD

SOUTH WINDSOR, CT — A New York man was arrested Thursday afternoon in connection with a fraud complaint in which an elderly South Windsor resident was nearly bilked of about $70,000.

Qiao Zheng, 42, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was charged with conspiracy to commit second-degree larceny. He was held overnight in lieu of a $100,000 surety bond, and is slated to be arraigned Friday in Manchester Superior Court.

Police received a complaint Monday from a 90-year-old man who said he had received an email from someone who claimed to work for PayPal. The message indicated a transaction purchase for Bitcoin had been flagged, and after the man contacted a support number, Zheng accessed the victim's computer through a fraudulent link, requesting he transfer $49,900 into a separate account. When that attempt was unsuccessful, the victim withdrew cash at various bank branches and gave it to a courier., Lt. Mark Cleverdon said.

Upon being notified of the incident, and an attempt was made by Zheng to swindle the victim out of an additional $20,000, the South Windsor Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Unit was present in the area of the man’s home after Zheng stated a courier would pick up the money in the early afternoon hours Thursday, Cleverdon said.

A man identified as Zheng arrived and was promptly arrested, Cleverdon said.