Police were able to trace his whereabouts to Albany

He almost got away with it, but police were diligent and he's now facing some serious charges. Police arrested 33 year old Ming Shan Zhu with after he was caught allegedly running a gift card scheme. 

Zhu is accused of convincing a resident of Lake County, Florida that he was a representative of Microsoft and demanded $8500 in gift cards in order to repair their computer. The victim did purchase the gift cards and provided the account numbers over the phone to Zhu. 

Police were able to track down the gift card purchases to Lowe's on Route 9W in Glenmont, and trace them back to Zhu. He's being charged with felony grand larceny. 

photo: Bethlehem Police via Facebook

Scammers tend to target senior citizens and people who may not be tech savvy. But no one is immune to a vast array of fraud techniques that are becoming more complicated by the day. The New York State Department of State has released a guide on how to spot and avoid a potential scam at https://dos.ny.gov/scam-prevention