Pittsburgh-area woman helps FBI catch man accused of scamming her out of $60,000
FBI Pittsburgh is now investigating after a McCandless woman was scammed out of tens of thousands of dollars. But instead of backing down, she turned around and helped police and the FBI trap the suspect through a sting operation.
According to the criminal complaint, the suspect, Changsong Huang, is now in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after he was arrested by police. The victim was scammed out of $60,000 by several different people on the same scam.
She went to police, telling them it started when she received a pop-up notification that she bought child porn.
"They're sending you a fraudulent warning to say, 'Hey, child pornography has been discovered on your computer. In order to avoid prosecution, please pay this amount and do it this way,'" said FBI Pittsburgh Assistant Special Agent in Charge Christopher Giordano.
Mistakenly thinking she was talking to agents, she sent them thousands of dollars.
In court documents, it first says the victim purchased nearly $1,500 in gift cards from CVS and Walgreens. Secondly, she gave $25,000 in cash at the McCandless Sheetz, and days later, the victim withdrew $35,000 and met a stranger, handing it over at the Dollar General in Ross. Noticing an oddity of the "agent" just walking off after getting money, she called police, leading to a full FBI investigation.
"She helped the FBI and local authorities arrest that person," Giordano said. "If you contact the police and there's already a pickup scheduled, we will do everything in our power to get out there as fast as humanly possible to arrest that individual coming to defraud you."
On Oct. 23, the victim took $30,000 in fake money to the Kool Cones on Perry Highway while the FBI surveilled. Once handed the money, the suspect drove off, and police pulled Huang over, taking him into custody.
According to court paperwork, Huang, from Brooklyn, New York, was having a hearing with immigration and facing possible deportation, though now in the hands of the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI couldn't comment further.
"If someone is asking you to go withdraw your life savings, whether they're representing themselves as an employee of the bank or a member of the federal government or law enforcement, call the police," Giordano said.
Huang is now in the custody of ICE in Cambria County facing charges of criminal conspiracy and felony theft.