70-year-old Carlsbad retiree loses life savings in scam involving Bitcoin

CARLSBAD, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) -- A multinational fraud conspiracy robbed a Carlsbad woman of her life savings and a suspect is now facing charges.

U.S. attorney Tara McGrath's office said Xilin Sun, a 35-year-old Ontario man, made his first appearance in federal court Thursday. He's accused of tricking a 70-year-old woman into handing over $1.33 million over a period of months.

The San Diego Elder Justice Task Force learned of the fraud scheme after the victim reported to Carlsbad police that she was duped by fraudsters posing as government, bank and tech-support employees, the complaint noted.

It reportedly all started when the woman was using her computer and a pop-up window appeared. The page advised her to call for help because her computer had allegedly been hacked, the attorney's office explained.

When she made the call, the woman was transferred through a series of co-conspirators pretending to work in tech support who told her to download software on her computer.

From there, the attorney's office said she was also told her personal identifying and bank account information were compromised. She was referred, once again, to co-conspirators posing as employees from her financial institutions.

It didn't stop there.

The victim was then told she needed to “secure” her assets and someone posing as a bank employee directed her to deposit around $55,700 into Bitcoin ATMs located in North County, the complaint noted.

The scammers discovered the woman had substantial savings and then convinced her she could safeguard her funds by obtaining gold bars and sending them to the U.S. treasury.

According to the attorney's office, the victim then sent around $1,335,000 via three separate wire transfers to a precious metal business located in San Marcos.

Once each of the wire transfers were completed, she was instructed to pick up the purchased precious metals, mostly gold, and to package them. She was then directed to hand the packages over to an individual under the false pretense that it was being “secured” for safekeeping.

In reality, the Carlsbad woman was scammed out of her life savings.

In another attempt to trick the woman, the attorney's office said the scammers, once again, contacted her in February 2024. She was instructed to purchase $100,000 worth of additional gold.

This time, however, the victim contacted the FBI, which set up a controlled delivery of a package made to look like it contained $100,000 in gold, the attorney's office explained. The victim met with one of the conspirators outside a bank in Carlsbad, handing over the package.

Task force agents followed the first conspirator, who traveled about two miles before handing the package to a second conspirator, later identified as the defendant -- Xilin Sun. He was then stopped by California Highway Patrol.

According to the complaint, authorities found the fake gold package and the victim’s receipt in the suspect's vehicle. CHP agents also located additional evidence linking Sun to the victim, including photos of the fake gold the victim had sent to the conspirators over the phone, a
copy of an invoice and the receipt for the gold.

Sun is facing up to 30 years behind bars if convicted.

"Thousands of people fall victim to elder fraud every year. Many do not report the fraud because they are embarrassed or afraid; however, the best course of action is to report scams as early as possible,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge John Kim. “The San Diego Elder Justice Task Force is dedicated to relentlessly pursuing criminals who prey on innocent individuals for personal gain.”

If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is available through the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-372-8311. You can also report fraud
to any local law enforcement agency or on the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.