QUINCY, Mass. — Two men are facing criminal charges after police say they used tech support scam to steal $120,000 from an elderly resident on the South Shore.
Shaoquin Liu, 27, and Shiwang Ning, 33, both of Brooklyn, New York, were arraigned Wednesday in Quincy District Court on charges of larceny over $1,200 by false pretenses and two counts of conspiracy, according to the Quincy Police Department.
Liu and Ning first contacted the victim with a fake Microsoft notification and informed them that there were suspicious activities on their bank account related to an online poker website, police said.
The victim then called a phone number provided by the suspect and was tricked into believing that they were speaking with someone from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, according to police. They were subsequently talked into repeatedly withdrawing large sums of money from the bank.
Someone would visit the victim’s home and pick up the cash each time they withdrew money, police said.
As the scam unfolded, the suspects gained remote access to the victim’s computer, saw what financial institutions they used, and created false correspondence purporting to be from their financial services company, the FDIC, and the Social Security Administration, according to police.
The victim ultimately became suspicious and alerted Quincy police. Officers on Tuesday were able to apprehend Liu and Ning when they visited the victim to pick up more cash.
Quincy Police Chief Mark P. Kennedy commended the bravery of the victim for coming forward.
“I am happy that these two criminals were arrested by our detectives and our department will intensify our efforts to educate our city’s senior population about these scams and web-based fraud,” Kennedy said in a statement.
Scams targeting seniors have resulted in losses of more than $12.5 billion in 2023, police noted.
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