Fremont Man Charged In $20K 'Microsoft' Scam Against Elderly SoCal Man: Prosecutors

FREMONT, CA — A Fremont man was charged Wednesday in connection with a scam that left an elderly Southland man out $20,000, prosecutors said.

An elderly Ventura man was on his computer Tuesday, Aug. 4, when he suddenly got a pop-up message saying he needed to call "Microsoft," prosecutors said.

The victim called the number he was given, and it transferred him through several unidentified people before speaking with someone who went by "Damian Myers," according to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

"Myers" told the victim that someone had used his Ventura County Credit Union account to buy $25,000 in child pornography in China, prosecutors said.

"Myers claimed the transaction had been stopped but told the victim he needed to withdraw $25,000 in cash to protect his funds," prosecutors said. "All of these claims were false."

But convinced it was real, the victim followed the suspect's instructions, withdrawing $20,000 in cash from two credit union branches and buying $5,000 in gift cards, prosecutors said.

The suspect then told the victim to package $20,000 in cash and that a Federal Trade Commission representative would collect the money from him, prosecutors said.

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The following day, the victim met Ze Li, a 34-year-old Fremont man, and gave him the cash, prosecutors said.

Li left after receiving the cash, but after their interaction, the victim became suspicious and reported the incident to law enforcement, prosecutors said.

With the help of the victim, authorities planned a sting to catch Li, prosecutors said.

Li believed he was getting another $20,000 when he met with the victim again on Thursday, Aug. 27, prosecutors said.

Instead of leaving with another $20,000, Li was taken into custody on suspicion of grand theft.

On Wednesday, Li was charged with grand theft from an elder or dependent adult, conspiracy to commit a crime, attempted grand theft of personal property and attempted theft from an elder or dependent adult, prosecutors said.

It's not yet clear who "Myers" is. Police believe Li acted as a courier for fraudsters operating outside of Ventura County and targeting older adults through computer scams, prosecutors said.

Li's bail was set at $250,000, and he remains jailed ahead of his hearing on Friday, prosecutors said.

These scams are known as "package-drops." A scammer claims to be with an agency and has a target withdraw cash or checks for an operation.

The scammers then tell their target to hand the money to a courier sent by whatever agency they claim to be.

An elderly couple in the Bay Area lost out $28,000 earlier this year after a scammer posing as a federal agent convinced them to give money to a courier.

In July, a Fremont woman was tricked out of thousands of dollars through the same scheme.

A Bay Area woman last month, meanwhile, helped police set up a scammer targeting her in a package-drop scam. Police arrested the suspected courier in San Francisco.

Police have previously said scams are often challenging for local law enforcement because the perpetrators often operate internationally.