Man seeking asylum charged with fraud, financial exploitation of Carter woman

By Buzz Trexler

Star Correspondent

A Brooklyn, N.Y., man seeking asylum in the U.S. has been arrested and held without bond on charges of fraud and financial exploitation of a Carter County woman, according to a Carter County Sheriff’s Office release.

CCSO deputies on Monday arrested Xiaozhong Zheng, 50, in Gwinnett County, Ga., on a May 1 warrant charging him with financial exploitation of elderly or vulnerable persons, fraud, and theft of property in what appears to have been an Internet fraud scheme a recent FBI report said is the most common trap set for people over 60.

An investigation began on Nov. 6, 2023, when the Carter County woman called 911 to report she had been the victim of fraud. The woman said she had received a notification on her computer stating that her computer had a virus and she needed to contact the telephone number provided. She called the number and was told someone was attempting to access child pornography on her computer. She was then transferred to the “fraud department” after the person on the phone told her someone was trying to gain access to her financial information and bank account. The woman stated she was told by the person on the phone that she needed to withdraw $30,500 from her financial institution and provide it to a man who would come to her residence. She said the person on the phone also told her not to inform anyone about the transaction.

The woman said after she withdrew the money from her bank account, a man came to her home, showed her an identification card, and she gave him the money. He laughed before leaving, the woman said.

It appears investigators and the victim may have the last laugh, though: The woman provided officers with photographs of the man, his identification card, and the vehicle he was driving.

When CCSO investigators saw the suspect’s identification card bearing his name and showing he was a temporary visitor to the U.S., they contacted the Department of Homeland Security Investigations. They discovered Zheng had an active employment authorization document (EAD) and had applied for asylum, but the status of that application was pending.

FBI Report: No. 1 Fraud Type

The Carter County woman’s case was one of more than 880,000 received by the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) in 2023, according to a recent FBI report, with potential losses exceeding $12.5 billion. Of those, losses by those over the age of 60 topped $3.4 billion – an 11 percent increase from 2022. There was also a 14 percent increase in complaints filed with IC3 by elderly victims.

Nationwide, the report said, tech support fraud was the No. 1 crime type impacting complainants over 60 with nearly 18,000 complaints and almost $600 million in reported losses, while investment scams continued to be the costliest to the elderly with losses exceeding $1.2 billion.

Call center schemes overwhelmingly target older adults, with almost half of the complainants being those preying on victims over 60.

According to the report, common frauds regularly affecting individuals over 60 include:

— Confidence/Romance Scam: Criminals pose as interested romantic partners through dating websites to capitalize on their elderly victims’ desire to find companions.

— Tech Support Scam: Criminals pose as tech support representatives and offer to fix nonexistent computer issues — gaining remote access to victims’ devices and, thus, their sensitive information.

— Cryptocurrency Scam: Scammers convince targeted individuals to withdraw large sums of cash and deposit into cryptocurrency ATMs or kiosks at locations provided by the scammers. Once cash is deposited and converted into cryptocurrency, the scammer transfers it to other cryptocurrency accounts.

— Investment Scam: Investment fraud involves complex financial crimes often characterized as low-risk investments with guaranteed returns —advanced fee frauds, Ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes, market manipulation fraud, real estate investing, and trust-based investing such as cryptocurrency investment scams.

To report a complaint of elder fraud, contact the FBI’s Johnson City field office, 2620 Knob Creek Road, at (423) 282-8090. Complaints can also be filed online with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ice.gov.

The post Man seeking asylum charged with fraud, financial exploitation of Carter woman appeared first on www.elizabethton.com .