Jiaci Liu, Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, California 2024

A 34-year-old man from Monterey Park, California, has been charged with scamming seniors out of thousands of dollars in a multinational fraud conspiracy.

Jiaci Liu appeared in federal court on May 22, 2024, following his arrest for engaging in a fraud scheme that targeted a 63-year-old man from Poway.

According to a federal complaint, the San Diego Elder Justice Task Force (ETJF) learned of the fraud scheme after the victim reported to the San Diego Sheriff’s Department that he had been duped as part of a layered tech support, bank impersonation, and government impersonation scam.

The victim reported that he received a pop-up window on his personal computer indicating there was a possible virus on his computer and instructing him to contact a phone number. When he contacted the number, he was transferred through a series of co-conspirators pretending to work in tech support.

The victim was informed that his computer had viruses and was then transferred to another conspirator who claimed to be from the victim’s bank. During that interaction, the victim was told there were unauthorized transfers from his bank.

The victim was instructed to go immediately to his bank and to withdraw all his money for safekeeping. At the direction of the conspirators, the victim withdrew $28,000. The victim was then instructed by the conspirators that someone from the U.S. Marshals Service would come to his house to pick up the money.

However, after the interaction, the victim became suspicious and contacted the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, which informed the victim to contact them if anyone showed up to pick up the money. On June 9, 2023, defendant Jiaci Liu arrived at the victim’s residence. The victim called the police, who arrived and found Liu outside the victim’s home. Liu’s cellphone was seized and later searched.

Investigators located evidence indicating that in just one week in June 2023, Liu had picked up over $348,000 dollars from multiple victims located in Southern California and Phoenix, Arizona.

“Everyone with a computer is vulnerable to sophisticated scams like the one alleged in this case,” said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath. “If you think you’ve been targeted, report it quickly. The faster the report comes in, the more likely we are to catch the scammers and recover any swindled money.”

A detention hearing is scheduled for May 24, 2024, at 9:30 a.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge David D. Leshner.

This case was investigated by the San Diego Elder Justice Task Force and its member agencies, including the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, Carlsbad Police Department, San Diego Police Department, and the California Highway Patrol.

If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is available through the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833 FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). You can also report fraud to any local law enforcement agency or on the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.

Jiaci Liu is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1349) and criminal forfeiture (18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(C) and 28 U.S.C. § 2461(c)).

The defendant's age is 34, and he is from Monterey Park, California.

The case number is 24MJ1929-MSB.

Jiaci Liu is facing a detention hearing on May 24, 2024.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mokhtari.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/man-charged-scams-targeting-seniors