HOWELL – Authorities have arrested two individuals after a resident was scammed out of thousands of dollars.
The scam was initiated when a resident received an email claiming her PayPal account was compromised. The email instructed her to call a provided number where a scammer posing as a PayPal representative told her to package cash in excess of $20,000 on two separate occasions within days of each other, police said. A different person then collected the packages at the resident’s home.
Howell Police were contacted soon after the resident realized she was scammed.
The scammer then contacted her again demanding more money. Detective Richard Robertiello was notified and a plan was created to set up a decoy package.
The two suspects from New York arrived to pick up the decoy package from the victim’s home and were later pulled over by police and subsequently arrested.
The suspects were identified as Wei Zheng and Qiufen Chen, and are now facing conspiracy and theft charges.
“The scammers in these cases prey on trust and often claim urgent payment resolves fake issues like a compromised PayPal account. Don’t fall for it. Never send cash or share personal information with unsolicited contacts,” Howell Police said in a statement. “If you’re suspicious, call us immediately.”
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