Lin Qiu, of Staten Island, arrested after LIer scammed out of $47,000 by caller posing as Federal Reserve employee, police say

A Staten Island man faces multiple grand larceny charges in connection with an elder scam that stole $47,000 from an Elmont man, while two other men involved in the scheme are still at large, Nassau County police said.

The 77-year-old victim was inside his home on his computer on Monday at 8 a.m. when he received a prompt to call a phone number.

When the man called the number, he spoke with someone who claimed to work for the Federal Reserve and instructed him to withdraw all of his money for a pending investigation.

The man then withdrew $47,000 in cash and two unknown men picked it up. 

The first man is described as approximately 5’5” tall with an average build. The second man is approximately 5’10” tall with a thin build, police said.

After handing over the money, the victim received numerous phone calls from different numbers following up with him, which caused him to believe it was a scam and called 911, police said.

On Thursday at 1:30 p.m., he received more phone calls from what sounded like the same person, requesting $10,000 in cash and saying that a representative would come to his home to pick up the money. Officers then waited at the Elmont home and arrested Lin Qiu, 46, of Staten Island, when police said he showed up to acquire the money.

Qiu is charged with third-degree attempted grand larceny and third-degree grand larceny.

He will be arraigned on Friday at First District Court in Hempstead.

Police could not confirm if Qiu was the person the victim spoke with on the phone or if the $47,000 was recovered.