Couple nearly swindled out of $88,000 in Missouri — but they got suspicious, feds say

A husband and wife were nearly swindled out of $88,000 in Missouri — but they got suspicious, and now someone is facing federal charges, authorities said.

The 78-year-old man told police he tried using his computer on Aug. 9, when he got a pop-up message, according to an Aug. 15 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri. The message said his computer had a virus and told him to call a certain number.

He and his 76-year-old wife called the number, authorities said, and “were told that their banking information had been compromised because someone had been accessing child pornography on the computer.”

To avoid prosecution, the couple was told they must pay $88,000, according to the release.

“The couple was told to withdraw the money in multiple transactions from multiple branches of their financial institution, then photograph and package the money and await a visitor,” officials said.

But after withdrawing the funds, “the couple became suspicious,” authorities said.

And when a 22-year-old man showed up at their home on Aug. 10 to collect the money, they refused to pay him, according to the release. The man left, and the couple called police.

The man later returned to their house, authorities said, and the couple called police. Officers said they found him at their home and took him into custody.

Now, the man has been charged with wire fraud, records show. His defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on Aug. 16.

Investigators believe he was a courier who received anywhere from $500 to $1,000 to pick up money from victims who were scammed, according to the release. Before arriving in St. Louis, authorities said he picked up $40,000 from someone in Colorado and $40,000 from someone in Oregon.

Investigators said the man would use a fraudulent Taiwanese passport to deposit cash into a bank account, then he’d transfer the money to other people using cashier’s checks. The man is from Taiwan, according to the release.

“Criminals who take advantage of elderly individuals, whose income is often fixed, are absolutely appalling,” Taekuk Cho, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations Kansas City, said in the release. “These offenders are very organized and utilize a multitude of fear tactics to extort vulnerable people and oftentimes cause undue financial hardship.”

If convicted, the man faces up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.

This story was originally published August 16, 2023 at 10:54 AM with the headline "Couple nearly swindled out of $88,000 in Missouri — but they got suspicious, feds say."