Chinese National 'Little Tiger' In YouTube Video Pleads Guilty In $27 Million Multinational Fraud Scheme Targeting 2,000 Seniors

The U.S. Justice Department released the information below:

SAN DIEGO – Jiandong Chen, aka “Little Tiger,” pleaded guilty in federal court today and admitted he participated in a $27 million fraud and money laundering scheme targeting approximately 2,000 elderly victims across the United States.

Chen, a Chinese national, is the second defendant charged in a five-defendant indictment unsealed in 2024.  According to public documents, members of the conspiracy operated a series of technical support, bank impersonation, government impersonation and refund scams targeting elderly victims.  Victims received unsolicited phone calls, emails, and pop-up ads directing victims to call a phone number. Unbeknownst to the victims, those phone numbers belonged to India-based scam call centers.

Once a victim called the call center, members of the conspiracy used social engineering techniques to build trust with the victim. In many instances, the conspirators had victims download commercially available remote desktop software, which the conspirators used to access victims’ computers and to carry on the scams.

One of the most frequent scams was a refund scam. Victims were told they were entitled to a small refund, for example, from a retailer for an alleged unauthorized charge.  While pretending to process the refund, the victim would be accidentally “over-refunded” money.  The conspirators would then instruct the victim to send the alleged over-refunded money through wire transfer or in cash via express mail to members of the conspiracy. In reality, the victims had not received any money.

After building trust with a victim, the conspirators would induce victims to send money to members of the conspiracy in the United States, in locations throughout Southern California, Nevada and elsewhere.  The money was sent to members of the conspiracy, including Chen, most often as bulk cash via express mail packages but also as wire transfers. Certain members of the conspiracy also did in-person pickups of money directly from victims.

In one such instance captured in a YouTube video, defendant Chen traveled to a residence in the Los Angeles area to pick up bulk cash from someone he believed to be an elderly victim of the fraud scheme.  In a video posted to YouTube entitled “CONFRONTING SCAMMERS WITH A FAKE FUNERAL (EPIC REACTIONS),” Chen was confronted by a team of YouTubers about working for a scam organization 

You can read the rest of the release and watch a video:

   Southern District of California | Chinese National in YouTube Video Pleads Guilty in $27 Million Multinational Fraud Scheme Targeting 2,000 Seniors | United States Department of Justice