6500万美元养老诈骗团伙被捣毁：28名华人成员被起诉，圣迭戈97岁老妇毕生积蓄被骗光
美国联邦检察官办公室（加州南区）2025年8月宣布，一个盘踞南加州、主要由华人组成的跨国诈骗团伙被捣毁：28名被告在四份联邦大陪审团起诉书中被控串谋邮件与电信诈骗、串谋洗钱；执法部门在加州、纽约州、德州和密歇根州展开一周收网行动，逮捕25人，执行十余份搜查与查扣令，从金融账户中查扣逾420万美元，并扣押一辆2022款梅赛德斯-奔驰 G63、一辆2024款保时捷 Panamera 等多辆豪车。检察官称，该团伙自2019年起作案，诈骗金额达6500万美元，受害者是全美数千名老年人，其中包括圣迭戈一名97岁的大屠杀幸存者遗孀，她的毕生积蓄被全部骗光。
法庭文件显示，该团伙与设在印度的诈骗呼叫中心紧密合作。骗子冒充技术支持人员、政府官员或银行职员联系受害者，以话术和心理操控取得信任、甚至远程控制受害者电脑；最常见的手法是谎称老人误收了一笔退款，再施压或威胁其把「多退的钱」以电汇、现金或礼品卡方式退回。被要求寄现金的受害者，要把现金装入包裹，用隔夜快递寄到团伙以假名义租下的短期出租屋，由成员收取。
本案的突破口之一来自民间打假：YouTube 博主「Scammer Payback」的 Pierogi 与「Trilogy Media」团队在2020年至2021年发布的钓鱼与对质视频，帮助执法部门锁定了 Zhiyi Zhang 等成员。Zhang 使用「Cream Pablo」等化名租屋收包，一人关联的受害损失至少180万美元，2025年8月19日在洛杉矶国际机场被捕。
2026年4月2日，国税局刑事调查处宣布，被告 Ziyue Zhao（别名 Chris Zhao）已在联邦法院认罪，是本案28名被告中第一个认罪的人。其认罪协议显示，仅2020年2月至2021年3月，该组织就收取约1,269个现金包裹，平均每个约1.4万美元，估计损失约1,778万美元；其量刑听证定于2026年6月23日在联邦地区法官 Todd W. Robinson 面前举行。
联邦检察官 Adam Gordon 表示，执法部门将继续用前沿手段为弱势受害者讨回公道，并留下一句被广泛引用的话：「不是所有英雄都披斗篷，有些人有 YouTube 频道。」需要说明的是，起诉书所载为指控，被告在法庭证明有罪之前推定无罪。本案由联邦检察官办公室（加州南区）与国土安全调查局主办，联邦调查局、国税局刑事调查处等机构参与。
$65 Million Fraud Ring Targeting Seniors Dismantled: 28 Alleged Members of a Chinese Organized Crime Ring Charged
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California announced in August 2025 the dismantling of a Chinese organized crime ring rooted in Southern California: 28 defendants were charged in four federal indictments with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. In a weeklong nationwide takedown across California, New York, Texas and Michigan, agents arrested 25 defendants, seized more than $4.2 million from financial accounts, and took luxury vehicles including a 2022 Mercedes-Benz G63 and a 2024 Porsche Panamera. Prosecutors say the scheme, running since at least 2019, defrauded thousands of seniors of $65 million, including a 97-year-old San Diego widow of a Holocaust survivor who lost her entire life savings.
According to court records, the network worked closely with scam call centers in India. Callers posed as tech support agents, government officials or bank employees, used scripted lies and psychological manipulation to win trust and often remote access to victims' computers, and most commonly convinced victims they had received a mistaken refund and pressured them to return the excess by wire transfer, cash or gift cards. Cash was mailed in packages to short-term rentals held under fake names, where ring members collected the proceeds.
Videos published in 2020 and 2021 by YouTubers Pierogi of 'Scammer Payback' and Trilogy Media, who baited and confronted the fraudsters on camera, helped investigators identify members including Zhiyi Zhang, who alone is linked to at least $1.8 million in losses and was arrested on August 19, 2025, at Los Angeles International Airport.
On April 2, 2026, IRS Criminal Investigation announced that defendant Ziyue Zhao, also known as Chris Zhao, had pleaded guilty, the first of the 28 defendants to do so. His plea agreement states that between February 2020 and March 2021 alone the organization received approximately 1,269 victim packages averaging about $14,000 each, an estimated $17,776,000 in losses during that period; his sentencing was set for June 23, 2026. The charges in an indictment are merely accusations, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：圣迭戈市中心天际线（资料图）。图片：JDrewes，CC BY-SA 3.0，取自 Wikimedia Commons
- 2026-04-02 10:006500万美元养老诈骗团伙被捣毁：28名华人成员被起诉，圣迭戈97岁老妇毕生积蓄被骗光本篇
- 2026-10-26 20:35跟进：6500万美元养老诈骗团伙最后两名被告认罪：被捕25人已全部认罪、另3人在逃，量刑排到明年2月
