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More than 30 defendants have been charged in a $65 million multinational fraud and money laundering scheme targeting elders across the United States, with a little help from the YouTubers behind channels Scammer Payback
and Trilogy Media.
Scammer Payback host Pierogi, alongside Trilogy Media’s Ashton Bingham and Art Kulik (who also host the Fox Nation show “Scammed: Getting Even”), helped federal law enforcement identify multiple defendants and uncover the structure of the conspiracy, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The criminal network was based in Southern California and had operated since at least 2019. The fraudsters — mostly Chinese nationals working with India-based scam call centers — would call elderly victims posing as technical support agents, government officials or bank employees. They would then instruct the victims to withdraw bulk cash, conceal it in packages and mail them to various names and addresses provided by the conspirators. The packages were shipped to short-term rental locations, addressed to fictitious names corresponding with fake IDs.
After a federal investigation uncovered 11 packages in San Diego containing approximately $135,000 in cash, law enforcement discovered several YouTube videos posted in 2020 and 2021 that helped identify members of the fraud ring. Scammer Payback and Trilogy Media baited fraudsters and confronted them on camera, leading law enforcement to identify and indict Zhiyi Zhang, Dudu Chen and Huajian Chen, as well as other high-level members of the operation.
The lead defendant, Hua Wang, pleaded guilty in federal court on June 30. He was arrested in April 2025 at his home in Flushing, New York, days after his co-defendant Weining Su was arrested at JFK airport while attempting to board a one-way flight to China.
Wang admitted that, from 2019 to 2023, he was responsible for more than 2,000 cash packages sent by elderly victims, totaling $64 million in victim loss.
The investigation has also led to guilty pleas from co-conspirators including Xiao Lei Xu, Wen Chang Wang, aka “Cookies,” Jiawen Cai, aka “Johnny Cai,” Zhuhan Yin, Wenzhi Chen, Yuhui Sun, Jiaxin Jiang, Bing Shen and Chongchong Li.
Their respective sentencing hearings are scheduled from July to September. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mokhtari and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Rookard.
