They defrauded seniors of $65 million. Got caught by YouTubers who pretended to be their victims
An international network of fraudsters with a $65 million scam has been broken up with the help of YouTubers. A total of 28 fraudsters were captured and will spend the next few years behind bars.
On August 27, the prosecutor's office in San Diego announced that they had managed to arrest 28 alleged members of a Chinese organized crime group. They were accused of numerous frauds and money laundering. The group was to cooperate with call centers in India, which, through fraudulent technical support and refund scams, targeted their activities towards American seniors. In this way, they stole over 65 million dollars.
The case is interesting in that specific content creators played a key role in uncovering it - namely Scammer Payback and members of the Trilogy Media channel, operating undercover in the years 2020-2021. Their actions allowed for the acquisition of necessary evidence against Chinese criminals (see: justice.gov).
Some heroes don't wear capes, but have YouTube channels
During their activities, YouTubers posed as potential scam victims and recorded the conversations, sometimes even physically confronting the suspects. Their recordings helped investigators identify key members of the criminal group and determine what roles they played.
Not all heroes wear capes. Some have YouTube channels,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “Our office will continue to be on the cutting edge of law enforcement techniques to ensure justice for vulnerable victims who have been defrauded by Chinese organized crime - said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon.
The most important action turned out to be a coordinated provocation done by the YouTubers. They delivered a bait package to an address in California, where they confronted Zhiyi Zhang - also known as "Cream Pablo". During the conversation, the suspect directly admitted that he regularly receives such packages filled with cash, originating from a money laundering operation. To avoid being tracked, he regularly changed his place of residence and therefore relied on couriers delivering him money.
This allowed law enforcement agencies to link him to frauds worth at least 1.8 million dollars. He was arrested on August 19, 2025, at the international airport in Los Angeles. In this way, it was also possible to locate two other people - Dudu Chena and Huajian Chena. They also played key roles in the criminal network.
Fraudsters will face long years behind bars and loss of property.
The investigation conducted by the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California, along with the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and IRS-Criminal Investigations, resulted in several search warrants. The authorities confiscated 4.2 million dollars in bank funds and several luxury vehicles, including a Mercedes-Benz G63, Porsche Panamera, and GMC Yukon Denali.
All 28 defendants were charged with mail and bank fraud, as well as money laundering. For their "criminal achievements", they will face penalties of up to 40 years imprisonment and multi-million fines, which will be transferred as compensation for the victims.
0
Author: Mateusz Zelek
A graduate of journalism and social communication from the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin in Krakow. He has been immersed in gaming and electronics since he learned to read. He plays most genres but particularly appreciates economic strategy games. He has also spent hundreds of hours in various cRPGs, from Gothic to Skyrim, but has not warmed up to Japanese JRPGs. He has been honing his skills in reviewing hardware since his studies, with a primary focus on computer peripherals and VR goggles. Eventually, he joined Webedia Poland, contributing to the editorial team at Futurebeat.pl and Gamepressure.com. In his personal life, he is a huge dinosaur enthusiast and can debate about them for hours. Seriously, discussing Mesozoic topics with Mateusz will lead to a conversation lasting as long as 65 million years.
Latest News
- Discussion about AI label on Steam continues. “The dev is being punished for their naive honesty”
- Dispatch Episode 4 walkthrough and choices guide
- „Oh damn, they didn't lie.” War Thunder devs joke has just become a reality
- Todd Howard explains the Fallout phenomenon and has no doubt what we will play first - GTA 6 or TES6
- Dispatch Episode 3 walkthrough and choices guide