The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania confirmed on the 11th that eight Chinese students who came to the United States on F-1 student visas were suspected of committing fraud in multiple states, with more than 50 victims and a total amount of up to 10 million yuan. Law enforcement agencies cracked the fraud group and formally prosecuted the eight defendants, who may face up to 20 years in prison.
Two suspects are studying at Pennsylvania State University
According to FOX News, John C. Gurganus, acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, confirmed that the eight defendants were from Pennsylvania, California, New York, New Jersey and Florida, two of whom were studying at Penn State.
The indictment shows that the eight defendants planned and launched a “pop-up computer alarm fraud” method targeting elderly people across the United States from August 2023 to February 2024.
Fraudulent “computer pop-up alerts” to defraud cash
That is, through fictitious pop-up windows, the victim’s computer or bank account is warned that it has been hacked, and then the victim is induced to contact the “support unit” or “government organization” to report. Once the victim believes it, the fraud group will send personnel to visit the victim pretending to be federal law enforcement officers, claiming to “help protect assets” and asking the victim to transfer a large amount of money to a specific account for safekeeping, but in fact, defrauding a huge amount of cash for profit.
Fraud in 19 states, specifically defrauding the elderly, more than 50 victims
After the law enforcement unit received the report, the investigation found that the eight defendants jointly defrauded at least 19 states, more than 50 victims, and most of them were elderly people. Therefore, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) under the Department of Homeland Security intervened in the investigation and arrested the fraud group in time.
Edward V. Owens, an investigator at HSI’s Philadelphia branch, said: “The rapid prosecution demonstrates our determination to combat fraud against the elderly. Such fraud not only causes huge financial losses, but also causes serious psychological trauma to the victims.” He also emphasized that HSI will work closely with the FBI to “continue to strive for justice for the victims and hold the fraudsters accountable.”
The criminal facts of these eight defendants were handed over to Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Lloyd for prosecution. If convicted, each person may face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The prosecution announced the identities of eight defendants, including two Pennsylvania State University students: 24-year-old Yankun Jiang (Yankun Jiang, all names are transliterated below) and 24-year-old Hanlin Yang; 25-year-old Chenhao Chen, 24-year-old Xiaoqing Tu, and 35-year-old Dongjie Lu from California; 22-year-old student Lei Bao from New York; 31-year-old student Kuo Zhang from New Jersey and 25-year-old student Jiacheng Zhang from Florida.
