Maryland Man Scammed Nassau Resident Out Of Thousands: DA

GARDEN CITY, NY — A Maryland man was arrested Saturday and charged with grand larceny for scamming a Garden City resident out of thousands of dollars, officials said.

Emeka Ndukwu, 50, from Lanham, Maryland, was charged with third-degree grand larceny. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison.

“Across the United States we’re seeing an epidemic of email scams targeting people who transfer large sums of money as part of their jobs or who are about to transfer money as part of an important life event, like buying a home,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly. “In this case, the defendant and his co-conspirators allegedly targeted a young homebuyer in an email scam where they pretended be a real estate attorney and stole $45,000 in the process.”

According to officials, between Oct. 8 and 12, 2021, a Garden City resident sent two wire transfers totalling $45,000 to a person he believed was his real estate attorney. Ndukwu, acting with two others, recruited a person to receive the money into their account, and then took the money for themselves, Donnelly said.

Ndukwu surrendered to Garden City detectives on Sept. 30.

“Email account take over scams, in which residents lose money, are difficult to solve as the subjects often reside out of state or out of country," said Garden City Police Commissioner Kenneth Jackson. "This case is a good example of detectives conducting a thorough investigation, developing leads, and identifying a subject within the United States.”

Donnelly's office offered tips to make sure a transaction is safe if you’re about to wire a large sum of money:

• Review email addresses carefully for deviations in the sender’s name or domain name and ensure that transaction details, including account numbers or payment options, haven’t changed.
• Follow up any email communications or text messages with a phone call before any money is exchanged.
• Be sure to use previous contact information for the person, not information received during the course of your email chain, which could be hacked.
• Look out for any changes in normal business procedures, including an individual using a personal email address or making suspicious requests.
• Be aware of any changes in language or speech pattern, including unusual grammar mistakes, formality, or informality, in the communications requesting money.
• Scammers will emphasize urgency in their request for money. Pay attention to common phrases like “time is of the essence” or “I need you to take care of this ASAP” or language threatening that a deal may fall through if immediate action to transfer money isn’t taken.
• If you believe you may have sent money to someone who has defrauded you, contact your financial institution immediately, which may be able to stop or reverse the transaction and recover some or all of your money.