Widow, 73, Bilked Out Of $113K By Phone Fraudsters

AUGUST 11--An elderly Florida woman was swindled out of $113,000 after she fell victim to a telephone fraudster who posed as a federal agent and claimed that her bank accounts “were being attacked,” according to court records.

In a scam that has become commonplace, the 73-year-old woman told police she received a call last month at her Clearwater home from a “male with an Indian accent” who claimed to be an agent with the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The caller, she said, warned that her bank accounts were under assault by “someone who was trying to take her money.” To protect her funds, the “agent” advised, she had to put her money in an escrow account, a transfer that “he would assist her in doing.”

The victim--a widower who once worked as a court clerk--“was sent a QR code” and instructed to withdraw $17,760 and transfer it via Bitcoin (which she did).

The fraud quickly escalated. The victim was directed to withdraw $46,000 in cash, which was subsequently picked up at her modest residence by a man who “gave a secret code word.”

Earlier this month, the woman handed over an additional $50,000 to the courier.

After the woman had been bilked out of $113,000, cops were informed of the scam (an arrest affidavit does not indicate who contacted law enforcement).

Scammers prey on victims--usually the elderly--who can end up fearful, disoriented, and not thinking rationally, even in the face of what appears to be a ludicrous claim being advanced by a stranger on the phone.

When the fraudster arranged another $50,000 pickup, a surveillance team was positioned near the victim’s home on Thursday afternoon. Investigators spotted the driver of a Kia SUV dropping off a man near the septuagenarian’s residence. The mule carried a backpack and walked back and forth past the woman’s home, “all while on the phone and looking around.”

The courier then made contact with the woman and “gave the secret code.” An undercover detective handed over “a box with the supposed $50k.”

Police quickly detained the mule, identified as Huisheng He, 34. Other officers arrested the Kia driver, who was in a nearby parking lot “out of sight while the transaction was conducted.” The driver, cops say, was Xin Sun, 56.

He and Sun (seen above) were both charged with scheming to defraud in excess of $50,000, a first-degree felony carrying a maximum 30-year prison sentence. Sun refused to speak with police, while He claimed to have been “instructed by a friend from California on the details of the pickup and did not know the driver he was with.”

According to court records, He and Sun--both of whom were born in China--live about six miles apart in suburban Los Angeles.

The defendants are each locked up on $150,000 bond. A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer has also been lodged against Sun. A judge has ordered the pair to have no further contact with the fraud victim.

The identity of the “male with an Indian accent” is unknown, though he likely was orchestrating the scam from overseas. (1 page)