Chinese National Accused of Impersonating Federal Agent to Scam Elderly Victim
Udumbara
Lian Zhigang, 42, a lawful permanent U.S. resident of La Puente, California, was indicted by a grand jury in East St. Louis with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud. Lian was taken into custody by the Illinois State Police on July 1.
“Federal authorities will never call to demand your personal or financial information over the phone, notify you that you’re a victim of identity theft, ask you to send cryptocurrency or travel to your home to pick up money,” Steven D. Weinhoeft, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, said in a statement.
“Scammers are preying on vulnerable victims through imposter scams, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office is using its full legal authority to hold offenders accountable.”
The victim, identified only as “J.V.” by prosecutors, received a scam text message purportedly from Apple on June 13, according to the complaint. The message stated that an Apple Pay transaction in the amount of $258.54 had occurred, and provided a phone number to call if the transaction was unauthorized.
Prosecutors said J.V. called the phone number because she didn’t have Apple Pay and thus couldn’t have made the transaction. According to the complaint, a scammer told the victim there was a “severe” problem and provided her with another phone number, claiming it belonged to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
“Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize,” a notice on the website reads.
“FTC employees will not ask you for personal or financial information, or call to notify you that you’ve been a victim of identity theft. If someone says they’re from the FTC and demands money, they’re a scammer.”
The scammer, who called himself “Andrew Ferguson,” allegedly told the victim that her accounts at Fidelity, Commerce Bank, and Catholic and Community Credit Union were at risk due to identity theft connected to Louisiana, Russia, and China, according to the complaint.
The scammer subsequently directed J.V. to make money withdrawals. On June 14, the victim withdrew $5,000 in cash from her Commerce Bank account and placed $4,900 in a bitcoin machine in St. Louis, Missouri.
On June 17, J.V. withdrew $25,000 in cash from her Commerce Bank account. Later on the same day, a coconspirator posing as an “agent” allegedly took the money at the victim’s residence in Belleville, Illinois, according to the complaint.
On June 26, J.V. sold stock from her Fidelity investment account and transferred the funds to her account at Catholic and Community Credit Union. She then withdrew $45,000 in cash from that account.
On the same day, the victim met with investigators from the Illinois State Police, prosecutors said.
According to the complaint, Lian was taken into custody by the state police in Belleville on July 1 for allegedly impersonating a federal agent and attempting to collect $45,000 in cash from the victim at a parking lot.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Lian faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted of both counts.
The Epoch Times contacted Lian’s lawyer but didn’t receive a response by publication time.
In recent months, there have been other cases of scams involving Chinese nationals.
