Scammer Payback, nicknamed Pierogi (meaning "Polish Dumplings"), specifically targeted telecom network fraudsters on the video sharing platform Youtube. Now, with his and two other American YouTubers' help, US authorities have cracked down on a multinational telecom fraud group mainly composed of Chinese citizens targeting elderly Americans, involving a fraud amount of $65 million.
The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California announced last week that authorities have launched a week-long arrest and search operation across the United States, arresting 25 people in California, New York, and Michigan who are accused of being members of a Chinese organized crime gang. They, along with three other defendants accused of being members of the gang, are charged in four federal grand jury prosecutions.
US prosecutors say that the criminal network is mainly composed of Chinese citizens, many of whom are illegally residing in the United States. They are based in Southern California and have been operating since at least 2019, closely colluding with India based fraud call centers. Prosecutors say that these fraudsters impersonated technical support personnel, government officials, or bank employees to answer phone calls, targeting thousands of elderly people across the United States, including the widow of a 97 year old Nazi Holocaust survivor in San Diego, California, who lost all her savings.
In a statement released on August 27th, federal prosecutors in Southern California mentioned that YouTubers such as Scammer Payback played a significant role in cracking down on this large fraud group. Scammer Payback and Trilogy Media, two YouTubers, coordinated and collaborated to launch an undercover operation. They pretend to be victims, lure scammers into taking the bait, confront them face-to-face with cameras, and publish these videos on their respective YouTube channels.
The videos they posted in 2020 and 2021 helped law enforcement authorities identify Zhang Zhiyi, Dudu Chen, and Huajian Chen. They all became defendants on the indictment.
The prosecutor said that Zhang Zhiyi, who is accused of being a member of a fraud conspiracy group, used aliases and pseudonyms to receive packages from victims in short-term rental housing. He and other members of the gang are paid by piece and often move houses to evade the law. According to the documents submitted by the authorities approving the arrest of Zhang Zhiyi, he alone is associated with at least $1.8 million in losses. Data photo: The headquarters building of the US Department of Justice located in Washington.
|
8
8