“He’s shaking like a leaf right now,” said an officer arresting grand theft defendant Weikai Zhang on July 9. “He is shaking like there’s no tomorrow.”
Zhang, 43, is charged with trying to hustle an elderly woman out of her life savings. A hearing is scheduled for March 27, records out of Marion County, Florida, show.
“The scammers, posing as a call center, convinced the victim that her computer had a virus and that they could help fix it,” cops wrote. “They gained control of her financial information and persuaded her to liquidate her life savings into gold, which was sold through a broker and shipped. Around 11:30 a.m., the shipping company delivered multiple boxes to the victim’s residence. Thankfully, HSI special agents and #OcalaPD also arrived at her residence and informed her about the scam. Later, the scammers contacted the victim to verify the arrival of the parcels and notified her that a courier was on the way to secure the gold.”
Cops said that law enforcement noticed a suspicious van in the area. It was registered to Zhang, who had a suspended license and expired tags, they said.