Five Suspects Indicted in Multi-million Dollar Global Fraud Ring Targeting 2,000 Seniors Across the U.S.
An indictment that was made public on Wednesday said that five people from Southern California and Nevada were part of a worldwide fraud ring that took millions of dollars from 2,000 old people across the United States.
A news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office says that about 60 federal, state, and local police officers arrested four of the suspects Wednesday morning in the Los Angeles and Las Vegas areas.
People from Pomona, Nevada; Henderson, Nevada’s Zhao Wang; West Covina’s Jun Li; and San Gabriel’s Xin Wang were arrested, and their homes were checked. Five people were charged. On April 9, Youfei Gong of San Gabriel was taken at his home in San Gabriel.
Between 2021 and 2023, the accused are said to have made more than $27 million.
The scammers, according to the prosecutors, used pop-up ads, emails, and phone calls that people didn’t ask for to get in touch with call centers in India. After getting their victims to trust them, the criminals often had them install remote desktop software that they could use to get into their computers.
Prosecutors say they then pretended to be technical support staff, government or bank officials, or ran refund scams to get people to send money to their partners, who were supposedly the five defendants.
The release says that the victims sent money through wire transfers or fast mail packages to places in Southern California, Nevada, and other places.
Once the criminals got the money, authorities say the defendants sent it to their partners in India using cryptocurrency as a way to clean it.
“Unfortunately, southern California is a paradise for scammers from all over the world and the United States who constantly target weak Americans and their bank accounts,” Akil Davis, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, said in a news release. “Many dedicated law enforcement agencies worked hard to make today’s arrests. These arrests will help our ongoing efforts to teach potential victims not to respond to strangers who say they care about them and never give or send hard-earned money in response to a solicitation.”
To report a scam, people aged 60 and up and their family members are asked to call the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11. Fraud can also be reported to any police department in the area.