A man who took part in a scam that duped multiple senior citizens into withdrawing and handing over large amounts of cash pleaded guilty in San Diego federal court Tuesday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Prosecutors say six victims in California and Arizona gave just over $200,000 combined to Jiaci Liu in the span of one week.
Liu’s role in the scheme culminated in San Diego County, where he was arrested outside the home of a 63-year-old Poway man in June 2023.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said a pop-up appeared on the Poway resident’s computer, which alerted him that there might be a virus on the device. The pop-up provided a phone number to contact, which prosecutors say led to a fake tech support hotline run by Liu’s co-conspirators.
In addition to being told he had viruses on his computer, the victim was transferred to other co-conspirators claiming to work for his bank, who told him there had been unauthorized money transfers.
To protect his remaining funds from being stolen, the victim was advised to withdraw his cash. Though he withdrew $28,000, the victim became suspicious after being told a U.S. Marshals Service representative would come to his home to pick up the money. He then contacted police, leading to Liu’s arrest.
Prosecutors say a search of Liu’s phone revealed he’d picked up similar amounts of cash from five other victims over the prior week.
Liu’s plea agreement states that the other victims ranged in age from their mid-to-late 70s to 83 years old and that the victims gave him at least $202,500.
Liu is slated to be sentenced in June.
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