XUEJIAN WU allegedly scammed an elderly resident out of more than $10,000 and attempted to extort more money by posing as a federal agent. (NRPD Courtesy Photo)

 

 

NORTH READING — Chief Mark Zimmerman reports that the North Reading Police Department arrested and charged a New York man in connection with a scam that stole thousands of dollars from an elderly resident.

Xuejian Wu, 30, of New York, N.Y., was arrested on November 14 and charged with: larceny over $1,200 by false pretenses; conspiracy to commit larceny by false pretenses; attempt to commit a crime (larceny by false pretenses); attempt to commit a crime (larceny from a person); and attempt to commit a crime (larceny from a person over 60 years old).

Last week, the North Reading Police Department was contacted by an elderly resident who believed he was being scammed by individuals on the internet.

North Reading Police investigators subsequently determined that a sophisticated online scammer had unlawfully gained remote access to the resident’s computer and was able to successfully utilize a series of threats and intimidation to steal more than $10,000 from the victim through digital Bitcoin transactions.

After being alerted to this theft, North Reading Police discovered that the scammer was attempting to steal additional monies from the victim, this time telling the victim that federal agents would be coming to his home address to collect the remainder of the money.

On Thursday, November 14, as a result of the investigation into this matter, North Reading Police detectives and patrol officers were able to arrest Wu as he arrived at the victim’s residence and identified himself as a federal agent attempting to receive the money from the victim.

Wu was scheduled to be arraigned in Woburn District Court last Friday.

“Arrests such as this are not common in law enforcement. These scammers are experts in targeting our senior citizen population and using threats and intimidation through technology to victimize them, and often keep them from notifying the police in time to act,” said Chief Zimmerman. “In this case we were able to successfully turn the tables on a  scammer who chose to target our residents, and it resulted in the successful arrest of Wu.”

“The North Reading Police Department will continue to prepare and train its officers in the constantly changing nature of technology-based scams which seek to victimize our residents. We will also expand on our efforts to investigate and prosecute these cases with our federal, state and local partnering agencies,” the chief said, adding, “If you think someone may be trying to scam you online through your phone or computer, please contact us immediately for assistance.”

These are allegations. All suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty.