A 24-year-old Monterey Park man was charged Friday with scamming at least $140,000 from a victim in Santa Ana.
Ge Yu was charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit a crime and a count of attempting to fraudulently obtain property, labor or services under false pretenses, all felonies. Yu also faces sentencing enhancements for aggravated white collar crime between $100,000 and $500,000.
Yu pleaded not guilty Friday and was scheduled to return to court July 21 for a pretrial hearing in the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.
The criminal complaint alleges Yu sent phishing text messages to victims, posing as a Social Security, Treasury or other governmental agent. The text messages offered to assist a victim with identity theft, the complaint alleged.
The victim was instructed to withdraw money and package it to be handed off to the U.S. Treasury, the complaint alleged. The defendant posed as the agent and picked up the cash, the complaint alleged.
Santa Ana police said this week in a statement about Yu’s arrest that investigators have seen an increase in the amount of phone scams. Police said the victim lost $175,000 in two weeks.
Police arrested Yu as he was attempting to collect money from a victim near Flower Street and Dyer Road. Investigators “believe this case is linked to a larger, organized fraud ring involving Asian nationals operating through overseas call centers to target victims in the U.S.,” police said.
Police advised residents to never share personal information or money over the phone and to not trust Caller ID because it can be faked or “spoofed” to look legitimate. No agency will ask someone to transfer money from a bank account or threaten arrest without cooperation, police said.