Scam Targeting The Elderly Narrowly Avoided In New York’s Capital Region

It seems that scams are everywhere these days. From emails to phone calls and everything in between, you can't trust anything anymore.

Unfortunately, many of these scams find their way to the older generations, who may not have as much experience in the digital realm as the rest of us. These cases of elder fraud can be hard to catch, but sometimes, just sometimes, a hero steps up to do the right thing.

Scam in Colonie

On Wednesday, September 24th, the Colonie Police Department were alerted to a potential scam. An elderly man had answered a phone call from an unknown person, and was instructed to withdraw $30,000 for a "construction project".

Luckily, employees at the Community Resource Federal Credit Union on 20 Wade Road smelled something fishy. They noticed the man was confused, and realized this was a scam, so, they alerted Colonie Police, and an investigation began.

READ MORE: Albany Police Warn of New Phone Scam

The Aftermath

Due to the diligence of the Credit Union Employees, Colonie Police were able to make a swift arrest of two suspects. They are Huifeng Jin and Qinghua Wang of Flushing, NY. Mr. Jin was charged with Felony Assault on a Police Officer, Felony Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, and a Misdemeanor Resisting Arrest. He will be waiting at Albany County Correctional facility awaiting a preliminary hearing.

Mr. Wang was simply charged with Felony Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, and was released with probation.

The Colonie Police Department are working diligently to ensure an incident like this does not happen again.