A Downtown Brooklyn tenant was scammed out of a month’s rent by a hacker posing as his landlord last month.
The 37-year-old man told cops that on Dec. 21 he was corresponding via email with who he believed was his landlord. The victim was given new instructions on how to pay January’s rent to which he obliged, transferring $1,1430 to the unknown perp online.
On Jan. 29, the tenant filed a police report at the 84th precinct after finding out his real landlord did not receive his rent payment and had not been conversing with him the previous month. The investigation is ongoing.
While most crimes are trending down across Brooklyn, reports of robbery remain high, according to Police Department data.
During the 28-day period from Jan. 8 to Feb. 4, reports of the seven major felonies – murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny, and grand larceny auto – decreased by 9.63% in Brooklyn South and 9.16% in Brooklyn North, when compared to the same time period in 2023. A total of 1,098 crimes were reported in Brooklyn South, and 1,130 in Brooklyn North (which includes Downtown Brooklyn’s 84th Precinct).
Both patrols saw marked decreases in all but two categories — robbery and grand larceny auto in Brooklyn South, and robbery and assault in Brooklyn North.
A total of 11 precincts reported an increase in robberies, while three saw rates remain flat compared to last year. While the 84th Precinct saw a decrease in grand larceny auto, robberies rose by 180% in the precinct, from five to 14. Bushwick’s 83rd Precinct similarly reported a 123.1% rise, from 12 to 29.
According to NYPD reports, those robberies included several violent incidents — including a Jan. 30 incident in the 79th Precinct, when two men put a 60-year-old man in a chokehold and stole his phone and $200 in cash; and a Jan. 29 incident in the 75th Precinct wherein the suspect punched a store cashier and stole $50 from the cash register. On Jan. 20, a 22-year-old woman staying at the Casa Blanca hotel in Fort Greene was robbed at gunpoint inside her room.
Additional reporting by Kirstyn Brendlen
