Indian Americans may be target of scam, say authorities.
By Raif Karerat
An Indian American woman from Piscataway, New Jersey, faces charges of scamming a 76-year-old man out of $9,000 in a con that authorities say may be targeting the Indian American demographic.
Mahwish Chaudry, 31, was arrested September 25 after she told her victim that his home was going into foreclosure last May.
She told the man she could drive him to the bank to make a cash withdrawal and give the money to her to save his home. The man complied and gave Chaudry $4,000 cash, according to myCentralJersey.com.
A few days later, the woman again contacted the man and said more money was needed to avoid having the home go into foreclosure. The woman, who was accompanied by a second woman, drove the man to a local bank, where he withdrew $5,000 and gave it to them.
The victim subsequently reported the incident to police at the behest of his family and Detective Kenneth Mikolajczyk investigated the case and obtained an arrest warrant for Chaudry, police Capt. James Sarnicki  Sarnicki told NJ Advance Media.
Last year, Indian American homes were targeted in a spate of home invasions in Middlesex, N.J. Five Indian American families were tied up and robbed at gunpoint after masked intruders stormed their homes.
The men made off with cash, jewelry, and electronics. The previous four incidents occurred during the last two weeks of October — Diwali was October 22 last year — and the fifth was over Thanksgiving weekend, according to NBC News.