On April 7th, a Chinese man specializing in defrauding elderly people pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to commit telecommunications fraud. 38-year-old Jingbin Jiang was charged in 2025 for his involvement in a large-scale telecommunications fraud scheme spanning across the United States. Prosecutors stated that the fraud ring had caused actual losses exceeding 5 million dollars to at least 70 elderly individuals. The case is scheduled for trial on June 9th.
According to the indictment from the Southern District of New York federal prosecutor, Jingbin Jiang, along with 39-year-old Sujian Liu (also known as “Fatso” or “Ah Pang”), operated fraudulent activities from 2023 to July 2025, covering at least 19 states in the U.S., including New York, New Jersey, among others, with a well-organized and clear division of labor.
The entire fraud process was roughly divided into three stages. Firstly, a pop-up warning message appeared on the victims’ computers, claiming to be from a tech company, bank, or government agency, alleging that their accounts or devices had been compromised, even involving serious crimes (such as downloading illegal images), and instructing them to immediately call a specific number for help. In the second stage, taking advantage of the victims’ fear, they further posed as bank or federal agency personnel, claiming to assist in asset protection, directing victims to withdraw large amounts of cash, purchase gold, or transfer funds to a so-called “safe account.” In the third stage, victims were informed that an “official courier” would come to collect the funds.
Prosecutors pointed out that Jingbin Jiang and Sujian Liu had roles in coordinating within the group, including arranging couriers to pick up cash, transporting gold and cash back to New York, converting it into cryptocurrency, then transferring it overseas to China, India, and other regions. The two received daily task information through a text platform, knowing the victims’ locations, amounts, and progress, and were responsible for action allocation and monitoring. The indictment believed that they were not only involved in execution but were also central to fund transfers and money laundering processes.
In a motion filed by the prosecution, a victim residing in Texas is considered a key witness. The victim is expected to testify via two-way video about the scam experience.
According to the prosecution’s account, the incident occurred around December 2023. The victim received a call from someone claiming to be from the customer service of the Amazon e-commerce platform, inquiring if he had recently purchased a computer. Upon denial, the call was quickly transferred to another person claiming to be from the “fraud investigation department.” They informed him that his bank account had been compromised but they would assist in transferring funds to a temporarily regulated safe system under the Federal Trade Commission’s supervision and mentioned that an “authorized FTC personnel” would visit to facilitate the handover.
Over the following weeks, several different couriers went to his residence as instructed, collecting packages containing cash, gold bars, and gift cards. Before each handover, details of the pickup person’s name, appearance, and verification method were provided to make the process seem legitimate and orderly.
Prosecutors noted that the victim believed throughout the entire process that this was a government-led asset protection measure until gradually realizing anomalies after all funds were transferred. Eventually, he suffered cumulative losses of about 300,000 dollars, and the funds were never recovered.