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A Queens woman was arrested and charged with attempted grand larceny after a 70-year-old Hicksville woman was allegedly persuaded to send nearly $1 million as part of an elder scam, Nassau County police said.<\/p>\n
According to police, Fnu Tierigeli claimed to be with the Delhi Police Department in India, telling the 70-year-old victim that she was involved in a crime in India and needed to send $919,200 to rectify the situation.<\/p>\n
Police said the woman complied and, between June 29 and July 27, withdrew and wired a total of $919,200.<\/p>\n
She contacted the victim again on Tuesday, instructing her to purchase an additional $300,000 in gold bars and coins so a CIA agent could pick them up and examine them.<\/p>\n
The victim realized she was being scammed and called police, who set up a sting operation Wednesday afternoon in the parking lot of the McDonald’s at 280 North Broadway in Hicksville.<\/p>\n
Police used a bag of fake gold bars. The suspect provided the undercover detective the preapproved code word, which was the serial number on a dollar bill, in exchange for the money. Once she took the money, she was arrested.<\/p>\n
Tierigeli, 32, was charged with attempted grand larceny in the second degree.<\/p>\n
The Nassau County Police Department urged residents to remain alert to potential scams and fraud schemes and to remind vulnerable family members, friends and neighbors of the risks.<\/p>\n
Anyone who believes they may have been a victim of a scam can contact the Nassau County Fraud and Forgery Section at 516-573-2815 or call 911. Police said callers may remain anonymous.<\/p>\n
The arrest comes a month after the NYPD’s Financial Crimes Task Force warned older New Yorkers about a scam involving gold bar<\/a>s that it is currently investigating.<\/p>\n ———-
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