Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz is warning members of the borough’s Chinese community about an ongoing scam in which bad actors impersonate Chinese police officers to extort money. The scammers claim that the victim is being investigated for insurance fraud in China and demand immediate payment to avoid arrest and possible extradition.
“These alleged scammers frighten victims into wiring thousands of dollars from their bank accounts by impersonating law enforcement,” Katz said. “They use sophisticated tactics that include calling victims from ‘spoofed’ official phone numbers and sending fraudulent documents that look authentic.”
One person has been arrested in Queens.
“In a recent Queens case, a defendant allegedly bilked $350,000 from a woman by pretending to be a Chinese prosecutor,” Katz said.
Bingming Zhang, 29, of Flushing, was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court in August on a criminal complaint charging him with criminal possession of stolen property in the second, third and fourth degrees.
According to the charges and investigation, a female victim received a phone call on July 6, 2026, from an unknown man stating that a United Health Care Global Account was opened in her name and was being used for illegal insurance claims. The caller then said he would transfer her call to a Chinese provincial police department where a man posing as a police officer requested personal information, told her he was investigating her case and would contact her in two days. He allegedly contacted the victim daily via the Zoom and Teams platforms and demanded she not tell anyone or they could be implicated in her crimes.
On July 10, 2026, she was contacted by a man posing as a Chinese prosecutor who told her he knew that she had $350,000 in her Chase bank account and if she did not wire it to a Flagstar Bank branch in Fresh Meadows, she would be extradited by U.S. investigators to face charges in China. He instructed her to tell the bank staff that the money was being sent to a relative in Hong Kong to buy a house. On July 13, 2026, the victim sent $300,000 to the defendant’s bank account. Approximately a week later she was instructed to send an additional $50,000, which she did.
On July 26, 2026, the victim attempted to access her Chase account and was told it was frozen for suspected fraud. Flagstar Bank was alerted to the fraud and contacted the defendant, arranging for him to come to the branch at 61-49 188th Street. When he arrived, a bank employee called 911 and officers from the 107th Precinct arrived and arrested the defendant.
He was arraigned on Aug. 15 before Queens Criminal Court Judge Germaine Auguste and was ordered to return to court Nov. 6. He is facing a maximum sentence of five to 15 years in prison if convicted of the charges.
“This scam is increasingly occurring in the U.S., and I urge anyone who has been victimized locally to contact their local police precinct or the Queens District Attorney’s Consumer Frauds Hotline at 718-286-6673,” Katz said.
The FBI has issued warnings about similar scams targeting members of the Chinese community in the U.S.