Twenty-eight alleged members of a Chinese organized crime ring have been charged in four federal grand jury indictments in a $65 million fraud scheme targeting thousands of seniors across the United States—including a 97-year-old San Diego widow of a Holocaust survivor who lost her entire life savings.
After a nationwide, weeklong takedown in California, New York, Texas and Michigan, 25 of the defendants have been arrested; all are charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and IRS-Criminal Investigations executed more than a dozen search and seizure warrants this week. The searches seized more than $4.2 million from financial accounts as well as several luxury vehicles, including a 2022 Mercedes-Benz G63, a 2024 Porsche Panamera, and a 2025 GMC Yukon Denali.
The criminal network has operated since 2019 based from Southern California.
Many are illegal immigrants. Fraudsters who took the calls posed as technical support agents, government officials, or bank employees, according to court records.
Victims received unsolicited calls or emails directing them to call various phone numbers, which, unbeknownst to the victims, were for the India-based scam call centers. Once connected, the scammers used scripted lies and psychological manipulation to gain the victims’ trust and often remote access to their computers. The most common scheme involved convincing victims they had received a mistaken refund and pressuring—or threatening—them to return the supposed excess funds via wire transfer, cash, or gift cards.
Victims sending cash were instructed to use overnight or express couriers, addressing packages to fake names tied to false IDs. These were sent to short-term rentals in the U.S. used by conspirators, including the indicted defendants, to collect the fraud proceeds.
YouTuber Pierogi from “Scammer Payback” documented key evidence. In a series of videos, Pierogi from Scammer Payback teamed up with two other YouTubers from “Trilogy Media” to publish videos on their respective YouTube channels.
Scammer Payback and Trilogy Media baited fraudsters, confronted them on camera, and published those videos to their respective YouTube channels. Videos posted in 2020 and 2021 helped law enforcement identify Zhiyi Zhang, Dudu Chen and Huajian Chen. All three are named in the indictments. The videos also helped shed light on how the conspiracy operated and led to the identification of high-level members of the organization.
“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.”
For example, Zhiyi Zhang, alleged to be a member of the conspiracy, used short-term rentals under the alias “Cream Pablo” and the fake name “Hans Bum” to receive victim packages. He and others were paid per package and frequently moved locations to evade law enforcement. Zhang alone is linked to at least $1.8 million in losses, according to the government.
“This investigation dismantled a predatory criminal organization that carried out a complex fraud scheme, manipulated victims throughout the country, and cost victims their hard-earned life savings” said Shawn Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) San Diego. “HSI, the United States Attorney’s Office, and our law enforcement partners diligently pursued this organization to bring them to justice and help the victims that were impacted. HSI is dedicated to protecting our communities and the people of the United States from organizations that prey on the vulnerable for financial gain.”
That memo says that the YouTubers Scammer Payback (Pierogi) and Trilogy Media were conducting a sting to expose scammers by posing as victims. During one such operation, Pierogi was told by scammers to send a package of cash to an individual named “Hans Bum” at an address in South San Francisco.
“This alleged Chinese organized crime ring laundered money for fraudulent Indian call centers who targeted our nation’s elderly citizens,” said Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher of the IRS Criminal Investigation Los Angeles Field Office. “These arrest and seizure warrants demonstrate that IRS-CI is committed to protecting our most vulnerable citizens, while also taking the profit out of crime.”
Trilogy Media followed up by physically delivering a decoy package to the address and confronted the person receiving it, who turned out to be Zhiyi Zhang. Zhang revealed his real identity during the confrontation and admitted on camera to receiving packages for money. The YouTubers passed the footage to law enforcement, who then verified Zhang’s identity using unblurred video, rental records, and other investigative efforts.
Zhang was arrested by federal agents on August 19, 2025, at Los Angeles International Airport.
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