Scammer arrested after almost draining elderly Florida woman of her life savings, police say
Mugshot shows Weikai Zhang | Credit: Marion County Sheriffs Office
OCALA, Fla. - A scammer was arrested after he targeted a 74-year-old Marion County woman for her life savings, convincing her to convert her cash into gold on Wednesday, Ocala police said.
When they contacted the woman, the scammers posed as a call center, alleging she had a computer virus for which they had a fix. They were able to seize her financial information and convinced her to trade her life savings into gold, which was sold through a broker and shipped, police said.
Law enforcement arrived at the woman's home when the gold was delivered, and they alerted her about the scam.
When the scammers called the woman again, they told her a courier was on the way to "secure the gold," according to police. Around 3 p.m., a man in a suspicious van was spotted in the woman's neighborhood.
When police approached the van, they found 42-year-old Weikai Zhang on a live call, using GPS directions to the woman's home. He was interviewed and charged with organized fraud for his role in the scam.
It is not clear if anyone else was arrested for this crime.