Vamshidhar Katikireddy
A Jersey City man was arrested after he allegedly tried to scam an elderly Egg Harbor Township couple out of $20,000, claiming he was from the FBI.
A woman called police at about 5 p.m. Tuesday, saying the suspect was on his way to her parents' Harbor Woods home to collect the money.
Vamshidhar Katikireddy, 24, was in a vehicle outside the residence when police arrived, Capt. Cherie Burgan said.
The driver started to pull away, but Officer Gavin Pullan stopped him.
Katikireddy repeatedly changed his reason for being in the area, according to the report.
He was taken into custody and ultimately charged by Detective Jacob Hunter with theft by deception, impersonation of a law enforcement officer and conspiracy, Burgan said.
Katikireddy is not a U.S. citizen, an investigation found, Burgan said.
He appeared briefly in court Wednesday, when Katikireddy was told he would be released with conditions.
His public safety assessment used to help determine whether someone is held under bail reform was the lowest possible score for failure to appear and dangerousness.
The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office asked that he be released with twice monthly reporting to the court via phone, since he lives out of the area.
Police asked that people use this as an opportunity to talk with your loved ones about these type of scams.
Legitimate law enforcement agencies will never ask for anyone to provide large sums of cash for any reason, police said.
Police also warned to block remote access to your network or cell phone, since since there is more personal information available that way with banking being online.
The public is also reminded that emails from what appear to be legitimate are not always from legitimate companies: "Do not ever click on a link from an unsolicited email."
Scams for large sums of money have been more commonplace.
