Washington, April 3 (NationPress) A Chinese national has admitted guilt in a vast fraud and money laundering operation amounting to $27 million, which impacted nearly 2,000 elderly individuals throughout the United States. Investigators have traced this scheme back to scam call centers in India.

Jiandong Chen, also referred to as “Little Tiger,” acknowledged his involvement in this international conspiracy that spanned from 2021 to 2023, as reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego.

The fraudulent network employed various deceptive tactics, including technical support scams, impersonation of banks and government entities, and refund fraud, primarily targeting victims aged in their 70s and 80s.

Victims were bombarded with unsolicited phone calls, emails, and pop-up alerts instructing them to reach out to numbers linked to call centers in India, according to investigators.

Upon establishing contact, conspirators utilized social engineering tactics to gain trust, often convincing victims to download remote desktop applications. This gave scammers access to their computers, enabling them to execute fraudulent transactions.

A prevalent method was the “refund scam,” where victims were falsely informed they were entitled to a small refund. However, during this process, they were tricked into believing they had received an “over-refund” and were then instructed to wire back the excess amount.

“In actuality, victims had not received any funds,” prosecutors emphasized.

Once trust was established, the network guided victims to send large amounts of cash to operatives within the U.S., including areas in Southern California and Nevada. Cash was either sent via express mail or collected in person.

Chen confessed to utilizing fake identities and fraudulent driver’s licenses to collect cash packages from victims.

In a notable incident documented in a widely shared YouTube video, Chen was filmed visiting a home in the Los Angeles vicinity to pick up cash from what he thought was an elderly victim, only to be confronted by a group of YouTubers exposing such scams.

Investigators revealed that members of this network also managed logistics with international co-conspirators by providing false names and addresses for package delivery. The cash was subsequently laundered, including through cryptocurrency transactions, to transfer funds internationally and support further criminal activities.

Authorities have identified over 2,000 victims nationwide who collectively suffered losses exceeding $27 million during the two-year timeline.

Chen was apprehended in August 2024. He is the second individual to plead guilty in a five-person indictment that was disclosed earlier that year, potentially facing up to 40 years in prison for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and up to 20 years for money laundering.