Scammer scams WA senior citizen out of $624K in gold bars

Lynnwood police say a 74-year-old woman converted her life savings into gold bars and handed them directly to a scammer.

Police extradited 42-year-old Zhichao Huang from Los Angeles County on Thursday night back to Washington. 

The backstory:

Investigators said Huang impersonated a federal agent during a weeks-long scam targeting a senior citizen and was carrying a gun during the in-person meeting with the victim.

Investigators say the scam began with a fraudulent pop-up alert on the victim’s computer, which appeared to be from Charles Schwab. 

Through the pop-up, the scammers were able to get the victim on the phone and convince her that her account had been hacked.

The scammers conned the victim to sell off $624,711 in stocks and IRA contributions. Then tried to get her to wire them the money through a Bitcoin transfer.

When that didn’t work, the thieves instructed the victim to invest the money in gold bars. Investigators said the victim met Huang at a Lynnwood parking lot, and he took the gold bars.

Big picture view:

This scam is almost identical to a ruse in Pierce County which FOX 13 Seattle reported earlier this week.

Both scams targeted senior citizens, used pop-alerts, utilized in-person meet-ups when Bitcoin transfers failed, and had the victims use passwords during the money hand-offs.

Lynnwood Police believe the scam goes much further than just Huang.

Huang was expected to appear in court on Friday, but his appearance was pushed to Monday due to the lack of a translator.

BEST OF FOX 13 SEATTLE

Renton PD: Son threatens mother, talks about ‘demons‘ before her murder

Scammer charged for swindling $14K from 71-year-old WA woman

Auburn police officer sentenced for 2019 shooting death of homeless man

Cluster of tremors felt near Snoqualmie, WA after 3.5 magnitude earthquake

Italy's top court upholds Amanda Knox's conviction for falsely accusing man of murder

To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily Fox Seattle Newsletter.

Download the free FOX Seattle FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national coverage, plus 24/7 streaming coverage from across the nation.

LynnwoodCrime and Public Safety