AUBURN — Auburn police arrested a woman from Vancouver, British Columbia, on July 17 after she allegedly posed as an undercover federal agent in an attempt to scam local residents out of $20,000.
Officers responded to a residence to assist a couple who believed they were being targeted by scammers.
The couple had been attempting to pay off their mortgage balance when they accidentally contacted someone posing as their financial institution, police said.
A man on the phone instructed the couple to withdraw $20,000 from their bank account and told them an “undercover federal agent” would retrieve the money from their home.
A woman later arrived near the residence, identifying herself as an “undercover FDIC agent,” and the couple were told to deliver the money to her outside their home.
Realizing they were being scammed, the couple contacted Auburn police.
When officers arrived, they located a woman walking away from the victims’ home.
Police identified the suspect as Andy Ng of Vancouver, British Columbia.
Ng was arrested for attempted larceny under Massachusetts General Law.
Officers located a vehicle believed to be used by Ng and discovered it contained a substantial amount of money believed to be evidence of similar crimes.
Detectives obtained a search warrant for the vehicle and found approximately $50,000 inside, along with identifiers suggesting the money belonged to at least one other victim.
Auburn police detectives are working to return money to the other identified victim, and Ng is expected to face additional charges in other jurisdictions.
Ng was arraigned in Worcester District Court and held on $5,000 bail.
Police remind residents that officers and federal agents will never come to homes to collect cash for any reason.
