Chinese National Pleads Guilty in $27 Million Fraud Targeting Elderly Americans
WASHINGTON — A Chinese national has pleaded guilty to his role in a $27 million fraud and money laundering scheme that targeted roughly 2,000 elderly victims across the United States, federal prosecutors said.
Jiandong Chen, also known as “Little Tiger,” admitted in federal court to participating in a multinational conspiracy that operated between 2021 and 2023, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego.
Authorities said the scheme relied on technical support scams, bank and government impersonation, and refund fraud to deceive victims, most of whom were in their 70s and 80s.
Victims received unsolicited phone calls, emails, and pop-up messages directing them to contact numbers linked to overseas call centers, including operations based in India, investigators said. Once contact was established, scammers used “social engineering techniques to build trust,” often persuading victims to download remote desktop software, giving fraudsters access to their computers and financial accounts.
A common tactic involved so-called refund scams, in which victims were told they were owed a refund but were falsely shown an “over-refund” and instructed to return the excess via wire transfers or cash shipments.
“In reality, the victims had not received any money,” prosecutors said.
After gaining victims’ trust, members of the network directed them to send large amounts of cash to operatives in the United States, including in Southern California and Nevada. Funds were sent through express mail or collected in person.
Chen admitted using fake identities and fraudulent driver’s licenses to retrieve packages containing cash sent by victims.
In one instance captured on a widely circulated YouTube video, Chen traveled to a residence in the Los Angeles area to collect money from what he believed was an elderly victim, only to be confronted by a group exposing scam operations.
Investigators said the network coordinated with overseas co-conspirators by using fictitious names and retail addresses to receive funds, which were then laundered, including through cryptocurrency, to move money abroad and sustain the scheme.
Authorities identified more than 2,000 victims nationwide who collectively lost over $27 million during the two-year operation.
Chen was arrested in August 2024 and is the second defendant to plead guilty in a five-person indictment unsealed that year. He faces up to 40 years in prison for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and up to 20 years on money laundering charges. (Source: IANS)
