California men accused of defrauding older Americans indicted in Pittsburgh

Two California residents have been indicted in federal court in Pittsburgh after prosecutors said they scammed older victims — including three in Western Pennsylvania — out of more than $1 million.

The indictment, unsealed Thursday, charges Thien Phuc Tran, 32, and Ton Huynh Bui, 29, both of Santa Ana, Calif., with conspiring to commit wire fraud and money laundering between December 2020 and December 2021.

The indictment said the men contacted older people through pop-up messages on their computers pretending to be from reputable technology companies. They would tell the victims that their financial accounts had been compromised, and that their funds needed to be moved, the government said. The men would subsequently gain control of the victims’ computers and their personal funds, according to the indictment.

Tran and Bui also are accused of using the personal information of unwitting victims to open financial accounts and create email accounts to move the proceeds of their fraud. Funds then were converted into cryptocurrency to conceal their crimes, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

The indictment said Tran and Bui got an 83-year-old from the Pittsburgh area to liquidate more than $1.2 million in retirement accounts, while two other victims, ages 69 and 50, lost $2,500 and $9,000, respectively.

“Members of the alleged conspiracy in this case preyed on this vulnerable population by convincing victims that their personal funds were not secure and needed to be moved to other accounts controlled by the defendants,” said U.S. Attorney Cindy Chung.

Mike Nordwall, FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge, said in a statement that the aging population is being increasingly targeted by cyber criminals.

“In some cases, these criminals have stolen the life savings of unsuspecting and trusting seniors through social engineering, computer intrusions and other means,” he said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the most common fraudulent schemes affecting older Americans include scammers offering tech support, criminals posing as utility company employees and other business and government imposters, online shopping scams and romance scams.

The office said people should never give out personal or financial information over the phone, by email or text.

Victims of financial fraud can call the Department of Justice’s Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-372-8311.