News 12 has exclusively learned that a Howell Township couple lost tens of thousands of dollars to a financial scam before turning to the police, who set up a sting operation that led to the arrest of two suspects.

Howell Township police identified the suspects as Wei Zheng and Qiufen Chen, who were apprehended on Interstate 195 after leaving the victims' home.

They had expected to collect another payment. Instead, officers were waiting. Police said the scam began with a phishing attempt, using fake PayPal screens and emails to deceive the couple into handing over large sums of money over several weeks.

“If somebody is asking you to do something with your money, that’s an immediate sign that it’s a scam,” said Detective Richard Robertiello, a financial crimes expert with the Howell Township Police Department.

Police say this scam began weeks ago as a phishing scam. Ringleaders sent thousands of emails claiming the recipients’ PayPal accounts were compromised and demanded cash to fix it. The two victims in this case responded to that email and twice gave the scammers tens of thousands in cash.

“They were sending people to the home to physically pick up the cash. When we heard that, we put together a sting operation through the detectives and ended up catching them,” said Howell Township Police Chief John Storrow.

Once the scammers left the victim’s Howell Township home, police moved in, pulled them over on Interstate 195 and arrested the suspects. They were identified as Chinese nationals Wei Zheng and Qiufen Chen, in the United States illegally, according to police.

“It’s likely an organized ring of some kind and involves actors from usually outside the country that are coordinating through cellphones, WhatsApp and other communicating measures,” said Howell Township Detective Ryan Jackson.

The two men were arrested and charged with receiving stolen property and conspiracy and then released from the Monmouth County jail.

Howell detectives routinely visit senior centers, warning them on how to better protect themselves.

“One general rule I always say at these presentations is don’t send money to anyone on earth,” said Detective Robertiello.

“There’s literally trillions in assets the elderly have that are being targeted by these groups,” said Detective Jackson.

Howell police want anyone who may recognize these men to give them a call at 732-938-4111 because they say it’s likely they’ve scammed many others using the same tactics.

“We have their cell phones. We have their locations so we are continuing the investigation, and it will lead to something more of a bigger picture, let’s hope that’s the case,” said Chief Storrow.