An 81-year-old Hammonton woman lost $20,000 after callers who allegedly posed as tech-support representatives persuaded her to withdraw the money and deliver it to a stranger, police say. The investigation led to charges against Houfeng Zhong, 40, and Hui Ming Lin, 46, both of New York, after authorities connected the Aug. 22 handoff to a vehicle later stopped in Ohio.
According to Breaking AC News, the woman received an August email falsely claiming that a Geek Squad membership was due for renewal. After she clicked pop-ups and links in the message, callers allegedly continued the ruse and obtained access to personal information, including her bank account.
A Fake Wire Transfer and a Box of Cash
One caller then allegedly told the woman that $20,000 had been deposited into her account by mistake and had to be returned. Officer Daniel Norcross checked with Trust Bank in Hammonton and confirmed that no such wire transfer had occurred, according to the outlet. The woman nevertheless withdrew $20,000 from her own account, placed it in a box and took it to the parking lot at 10 N. White Horse Pike.
She was told to hand the box to a man who would confirm the exchange with a passcode, 9930. Around 3 p.m. on Aug. 22, she did exactly that, turning the money over in the parking lot before returning home. It wasn't until the following morning, Aug. 23, that she went to the Hammonton Police Department and reported what had happened, according to the same account.
Elder-fraud losses nationwide
The case fits within a broader national pattern of reported internet-crime losses affecting older adults. According to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, people over 60 reported more than $3.4 billion in losses in 2023, an almost 11% increase from 2022. The agency cautioned that only about half of the complaints included age information.
Surveillance Video Leads to a New York Plate
Norcross reviewed parking-lot surveillance on Aug. 24 and identified a white Range Rover and New York license plate associated with the handoff, the report states. Ohio State Highway Patrol later located the plate and detained the men, and Hammonton investigators told the patrol that the men detained were the same people seen in the surveillance footage.
Zhong and Lin were detained in Ohio as fugitives from justice and held at the Trumbull County jail, according to the outlet. Zhong arrived at the Atlantic County Justice Facility on Sept. 17 and appeared by video the next day with a Mandarin interpreter. He was scheduled for a detention hearing on Wednesday, Sept. 23. Lin was reported to have been transferred from the Ohio jail and appeared to be en route to New Jersey.
