Scammer Arrested After Targeting Heimishe Community

By Idy Perl

A heimishe woman was recently the victim of a concerning scam that seems to be targeting the frum community. 

Last week, a local woman received a call from someone claiming that they had a warrant for her arrest. They told her that if she wanted to avoid getting arrested she had to withdraw $24,000 cash and meet them at a specific location to hand it over. The woman was able to come up with some of the money, and gave it to them in a handoff on Friday.  

After giving them the money the woman contacted Shomrim as she suspected she had been scammed. Shomrim jumped into action and tracked down and identified the vehicle, license plate, and a description of the suspect and gave the information to the NYPD.

This week the scammer contacted the woman again that she needs to give them the rest of the money. She contacted Shomrim, and together with the NYPD 79th Precinct, scheduled a handoff for today at 1pm. An hour before the meetup Shomrim and the NYPD coordinated their response and had officers and Shomrim members on standy at several street corners near the meeting location.

As soon as the woman handed over the money and the scammer accepted it, NYPD officers jumped in and arrested him at the corner of Franklin Avenue and Willoughby Avenue.  

W365 spoke with Shomrim coordinator Yanky Itzkowitz, who urged local residents to be on the lookout for similar scams, and not to go along with callers if something seems off. Scammers can be creative and might be able to manipulate caller IDs or sound legitimate, but real companies and organizations will never ask customers to provide private information over the phone, withdraw cash, or arrange meetings on street corners. Always be on alert when a caller claims to be from an official organization and ask them to provide verification if you suspect they might be a scammer. 

If you think you might be the victim of a scam reach out to the NYPD or Shomrim right away.