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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A San Gabriel Valley man is scheduled to appear in court Monday on federal charges stemming from his alleged attempt to obtain additional funds from two elderly victims who had already paid thousands as part of an online phishing scheme that locked up their home computer.
Tai Su, 48, of West Covina, is scheduled to make his initial appearance in downtown Los Angeles. He was arrested Friday in a sting orchestrated by Homeland Security Investigations, and federal prosecutors Sunday filed a criminal complaint that alleges one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Su was arrested at the victims' Encino residence when he showed up allegedly to retrieve $35,000 from the two elderly victims who had already paid fraudsters $25,000 in cash. According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Su is part of a scheme that included a computer virus, callers pretending to help the victims, and two other people who masqueraded as federal agents.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the cyberattack began on April 23 when the victims opened an email and clicked on a link launching malware that seized their computer and displayed a phone number that was purportedly "Microsoft Support."
The victims called the number and spoke to a person who advised they had been "hacked," and the hackers now had their bank account information at City National Bank, federal prosecutors said.
The victims were then connected to another person pretending to be a "Fraud and Risk Investigator" with City National Bank, who instructed the victims to withdraw $25,000 in cash and give the money to purported "federal agents" who would come to the victims' house, court papers show.
The victims withdrew the cash and, later on April 23, two men pretending to be federal agents -- one of whom displayed a fake badge -- came to the victims' residence and collected the money, prosecutors said.
Over the next two days, the scammers continued to seek additional funds from the victims, even directing them to make a $10,000 withdrawal at a particular City National Bank branch, according to papers filed in Los Angeles federal court.
HIS agents on April 25 learned about the ongoing scam and planned a sting operation.
The next day, during a series of phone calls with alleged participants in the scheme, the victims agreed to make another $35,000 cash payment. After rebuffing demands to deposit the funds into a virtual wallet at a remote location, the victims arranged for another pick-up by a "federal officer" at their residence.
At the agreed-upon time, Su drove to the victims' home. He identified himself to an 86-year-old victim, gave a passcode, and then said he was from Coinbase, a popular cryptocurrency platform. HSI agents then arrested Su, who was found to be carrying thousands of dollars in cash in large denominations, according to the affidavit.
The charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud carries a possible maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, prosecutors noted.