Two Arrested for Allegedly Defrauding Elderly Newport Beach Resident
NEWPORT BEACH, CA — “Last week, an elderly Newport Beach resident reported being defrauded out of $35,000 cash after she received a fraudulent email from scammers who convinced her to withdraw cash from her bank and meet up with the suspect to deliver the money. After successfully defrauding the victim, the suspects called back the next day and attempted to defraud her out of even more money. This time, detectives from the Newport Beach Police Department took over the role of “victim” and contacted two suspects as they arrived in search of more ill-gotten funds. Both suspects were arrested for grand theft, attempted grand theft, and conspiracy to commit grand theft.
The arrestees were identified as Haisong Shi, a 52-yr old male out of San Gabriel, and Wei Xiog Chen, a 25-yr old male out of Costa Mesa.
In this incident, the victim received a fraudulent email indicating she had made a large credit card purchase. The email contained a phone number directing the victim to call if the purported purchase was incorrect. Upon calling this number, the suspects indicated they would refund the purchase, but “accidentally” deposited a large amount of money in the victim’s bank account. The victim was directed to go to the bank, withdraw this excessive deposit, and hand it to an associate who arranged to meet with the victim.”
