SAN DIEGO (CNS) - More than two dozen alleged members of a Chinese organized crime ring that allegedly defrauded senior citizens across the nation out of millions of dollars are facing federal charges in San Diego.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says 28 people are charged in four grand jury indictments for allegedly scamming victims into sending them money, including a 97-year-old Holocaust survivor living in San Diego who lost her entire life savings.
Prosecutors say victims were contacted through unsolicited phone calls or emails, told they'd received refunds mistakenly, and were pressured to pay back money they supposedly owed.
The scammers were mailed money in packages addressed to short-term rentals across the country, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, which said "key evidence" in the case was documented by a group of YouTube content creators who sought to expose those behind the fraud.
A YouTuber known as Pierogi teamed up with two others from YouTube channel Trilogy Media to conduct a series of stings in which they posed as potential victims, sent a decoy package of cash to the scammers, then confronted the scammers on-camera.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said those efforts helped investigators identify three of the defendants and learn details regarding how the scheme operated.
Twenty-five of the defendants have been arrested. The defendants face charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Copyright 2025, City News Service, Inc.
