Jiandong Chen, Multinational Fraud Scheme, California 2024

San Diego, CA - Jiandong Chen, a Chinese national, pleaded guilty in federal court today to participating in a $27 million fraud and money laundering scheme targeting approximately 2,000 elderly victims across the United States.

According to public documents, members of the conspiracy operated a series of technical support, bank impersonation, government impersonation, and refund scams targeting elderly victims. Victims received unsolicited phone calls, emails, and pop-up ads directing victims to call a phone number. Unbeknownst to the victims, those phone numbers belonged to India-based scam call centers.

Once a victim called the call center, members of the conspiracy used social engineering techniques to build trust with the victim. In many instances, the conspirators had victims download commercially available remote desktop software, which the conspirators used to access victims' computers and to carry on the scams.

One of the most frequent scams was a refund scam. Victims were told they were entitled to a small refund, for example, from a retailer for an alleged unauthorized charge. While pretending to process the refund, the victim would be accidentally 'over-refunded' money. The conspirators would then instruct the victim to send the alleged over-refunded money through wire transfer or in cash via express mail to members of the conspiracy.

Chen is the second defendant charged in a five-defendant indictment unsealed in 2024. Investigators identified over 2,000 elderly victims from throughout the country, including victims in San Diego, who were defrauded and who suffered more than $27 million in losses over an approximately two-year period between 2021-2023.

Chen admitted that he used fraudulent driver's licenses or IDs matching the fictitious recipient names to retrieve the victim packages containing bulk cash. He also admitted to laundering fraud proceeds through cryptocurrency to transfer funds to foreign-based counterparts, to pay co-conspirators, and to fund travel to retrieve cash packages sent by victims, including trips to Las Vegas, Nevada.

A sentencing hearing for Chen is scheduled for June 26, 2026 at 9 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Robert S. Huie.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/chinese-national-youtube-video-pleads-guilty-27-million-multinational-fraud-scheme