A Queens crook asked two young women he met on Instagram on dates, then swiped their pricey cell phones, officials said Tuesday.
In both cases, the thief offered to add his credit card information to the victims’ phones — although it wasn’t clear exactly why — and then ran off with their devices, police said.
The first caper unfolded around 2 p.m. Aug. 18, when the suspect nabbed a phone worth nearly $1,200 off an 18-year-old woman he met up with at the Junction Blvd. subway station in Elmhurst, according to police.
Four days later he struck again, this time swiping two phones with a combined value of roughly $2,200 off a 26-year-old woman at 103rd St. and 41st Ave. in Corona around 3:20 p.m., cops said.
The NYPD on Tuesday released surveillance footage of the suspect and asked the public’s help identifying him and tracking him down. If he’ arrested, he’s facing multiple counts of grand larceny.
Anyone with information regarding is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.