Police have arrested a suspect after prosecutors say he was part of a “sophisticated, high-tech” multi-state criminal enterprise that stole nearly $60,000 from an elderly man in Buffalo Grove.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin Berrill said a 68-year-old man had a “pop-up” come up on his computer on February 3 saying his computer had been compromised.
The pop-up provided him with a phone number to call that was purportedly for Microsoft technical support.
The victim called the number and spoke to a person who gained remote access to the victim’s computer.
The surreptitious caller convinced the victim that he was connected to his bank, BMO Harris, Berrill said.
The victim was also told the FBI was involved with fixing the issue on his computer but that he needed to wire $33,000 from his own BMO Harris account to a Wells Fargo account before they could help.
The victim was told that he could not disclose to anyone that he was working with the FBI and to instead tell the bank that he was sending money to his sick daughter-in-law.
Berrill said the victim drove to a nearby BMO Harris branch and wired the $33,000 as directed.
The elderly man was again contacted by the fraudsters the following day and told that his BMO Harris account had been hacked and there was suspicious activity involving his bank account and a Russian pornography website.
The victim was told he could fix this by delivering $25,000 cash to an “undercover FBI agent” who would come to his house.
The victim was told that the money would later be returned to his BMO Harris account.
The victim withdrew the money and a white male came to his house as he was told would happen, Berrill said.
The victim was directed over the phone to provide the “undercover FBI agent” with a “passcode” and that the agent was going to respond with a “challenge code.”
The victim met him, provided the “passcode,” was greeted with the “challenge code” and the victim handed a white envelope with the $25,000 cash over to the person who arrived at his house.
Berrill said the victim was told over the phone not to check his BMO Harris account until he was contacted the next day under the threat of the purported investigation being “compromised.”
The victim logged into his BMO Harris account on February 5 and observed that no money had been returned to the account.
The victim was again contacted by phone and told that he should not have accessed his account. The victim was directed to wire $25,000 more in order to assist the alleged FBI investigation.
The victim drove to a nearby BMO Harris branch but was unable to complete the wire transfer because he could not provide them with a phone number associated with the account he was attempting to wire the money, Berrill said.
The person on the phone with the victim directed him to withdraw the money in cash.
The victim went to several BMO Harris branches in order to withdraw a total of $20,000 and was told that another “agent” would come to his house to pick up the money.
Berrill said the victim consulted his family at that point, who guided him towards contacting BMO Harris to report fraud as well as to report it to the Buffalo Grove Police Department.
The victim was again contacted by phone on February 6 and the caller directed the victim to prepare $10,000 to be picked up at his residence in Buffalo Grove at a specific time.
The victim was on the phone when a gray Dodge Durango pulled up to his residence and the caller told him that the “agent” was there to collect the cash.
The caller told the victim that the person there to collect the cash was named Mike and directed the victim to walk down the driveway towards the Dodge to provide the passcode “1, 2, 3, 4” and hand the cash over to the man in the car, Berrill said.
The victim walked down the driveway towards the car and an Asian male, later identified as Zixuan Yu, 26, of Los Angeles, California, got out of the vehicle and walked towards the victim.
The victim asked if Yu was Mike and Yu appeared to nod. Yu was immediately arrested by the Buffalo Grove Police Department, Berrill said.
He was transported to the police station and interviewed where he informed officers he lives in Los Angeles and flew to Detroit to visit a cousin.
Yu said he rented a car in Michigan and wanted to visit a friend in Chicago but the timing did not work so he stayed overnight at a hotel in Northbrook.
He said he saw an opportunity through an online Chinese chat group offering $300 to pick up a package and deliver it somewhere, according to Berrill.
Yu said he was told to adopt the name “Mike” and that the person delivering him the package would provide the passcode “1, 2, 3, 4.”
Yu told officers he went to the address he was directed and was told to erase all contact information of the person who asked him to pick up the package. He claimed he had never picked up packages like this before, Berrill said.
Yu also declined to provide any names or contact information for his cousin in Detroit or his friend in Chicago.
Yu was charged with one count of attempted theft by deception, a Class 3 felony, and the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain him pending trial, arguing he poses a willful flight risk. The petition to detain was granted during a detention hearing.
Berrill said Yu was also identified as a person taking part in nearly identical recent courier scams in Wisconsin.
“The Defendant is from California, without any ties to the community. He flew all the way from the west coast to the Midwest to partake in an organized, sophisticated, high-tech criminal enterprise,” Berrill said.
Berrill said it is believed there are numerous more victims in the Midwest and charges could be sought as law enforcement searches two phones from Yu in the “ongoing multi-state criminal enterprise” that he is part of.
Yu remains held in the Lake County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court again on Thursday for a preliminary hearing.