You have probably heard of phishing scams or emails meant to trick individuals into providing personal information in which scammers can then exploit. However, the FBI is now warning Americans about a new 鈥渟mishing鈥 scam, where ne'er-do-wells are using text messages under the guise of often …
Two men were arrested Tuesday in Auburn while attempting to retrieve a package they believed to contain $300,000 in gold after weeks of scamming a woman by posing as Microsoft, police said.
In a news release Wednesday, New York State Police said that Shabeer Ahmad, 58, and Mohammad Zaid Zahi Modan, 21, both of North Brunswick, New Jersey, contacted a woman in March through a pop-up on her computer that appeared to be from Microsoft.聽After calling the number in the pop-up, she was transferred to people posing as Microsoft support, her bank and a federal official.
The people told her she was under investigation for identity theft and at risk of going to federal prison, then instructed her to withdraw money and deliver it to someone in a public parking lot, police said.
As the woman continued to be contacted for additional money, state police said, its Auburn Bureau of Criminal Investigation began conducting controlled phone calls with the victim to set up another exchange. Ahmad and Modan were then arrested in the parking lot of the Auburn Wegmans while attempting to retrieve gold from the victim, and charged with second-degree attempted grand larceny.
The two were processed for the Class C felony at the state police barracks in Aurelius and transported to the Cayuga County Jail for CAP arraignment.
State police were assisted in the investigation by the Auburn Police Department and the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office. The investigation remains ongoing.聽
Executive Editor David Wilcox can be reached at (315) 282-2245 or david.wilcox@lee.net.
