A San Leandro woman is facing multiple felony charges after being arrested for allegedly scamming elderly victims out of large sums of money by convincing them their computers were infected with a virus.
The Marin County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded in September to a report of a financial scam involving a fake virus that had purportedly been found on the victim’s computer.
The victim was told to contact what the victim believed to be a legitimate source for help and then directed to withdraw funds from the victim’s bank account to pay for the fake computer service. Couriers were then sent to the victim’s home to collect the cash.
The Sheriff’s Office said the scheme has become increasingly common throughout the Bay Area in recent years. During the course of the investigation, the office identified 30-year-old Qingyun Chen of San Leandro as being involved in the large-scale fraud scam.
On Wednesday, Marin County Sheriff’s investigators and Alameda County Sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant at two homes in San Leandro. Chen was arrested and investigators recovered evidence of her alleged crimes from both homes, including a large amount of cash.
The Northern California Computer Crimes Task Force, comprised of high-tech and identity theft crime investigators from local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, also assisted on the case, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office said.
Chen is suspected of being involved in multiple financial scams throughout the Bay Area in the last several months. She was booked at the Marin County Jail for grand theft and theft/embezzlement of an elder adult.
The Sheriff’s Office said due to the significant amount of funds Chen allegedly defrauded from victims, her bail was set at $2.5 million.
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