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A New York man has pleaded guilty to coordinating couriers who collected cash and gold from elderly victims in a fraud scheme that used fake computer-hack warnings to take more than $5 million from about 300 people in at least 37 states. Xuehai Sun, 38, faces up to 20 years in prison, with sentencing set for Jan. 6, 2027, the Department of Justice said.
The Senior Fraud Scheme reportedly began with pop-up messages appearing on victims’ computers. The messages were designed to look as though they originated from legitimate technology companies and warned users that their devices had been hacked or that their financial accounts had been compromised.
In some cases, victims were allegedly told they were under investigation. They were then instructed to contact a purported live support agent for assistance.
Those calls were subsequently transferred to other participants who allegedly posed as representatives of financial institutions or government agencies. According to court documents, individuals involved in the operation impersonated representatives of organizations including the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Reserve Bank.
The alleged deception was designed to persuade victims that their money and valuables were at immediate risk. Victims were instructed to move their assets to accounts supposedly controlled by the government or otherwise intended to safeguard their funds.
Instead, prosecutors said, the assets were diverted to members of the conspiracy.
The approach illustrates how the Senior Fraud Scheme relied on a combination of impersonation, technical-sounding warnings and financial instructions to persuade victims to surrender control of their assets.
The court-record account states that victims were told their finances had been compromised and needed to be moved for protection. The purported safeguards, prosecutors said, were part of the fraudulent operation.
Cryptocurrency was among the methods allegedly used to transfer victims’ assets. Other victims were instructed to conduct wire transfers, withdraw cash or purchase gold bars before surrendering those valuables to couriers.
The use of several payment methods allowed the Senior Fraud Scheme to target victims regardless of whether they held their wealth in bank accounts, physical assets or cryptocurrency.
At his plea hearing, Sun admitted that he employed couriers to collect cash and gold from victims whose information had been supplied by other conspirators. He also acknowledged coordinating the couriers’ movements and communicating with other participants about the collection, transportation and distribution of the proceeds.
Sun further admitted that he knew the cash and gold had been obtained through fraudulent statements made to victims.
His admission places him in a logistical role within the Senior Fraud Scheme, according to the account presented in court. Rather than simply receiving proceeds, prosecutors said, he helped coordinate the people responsible for physically collecting valuables from victims.
The case also demonstrates the way cryptocurrency can appear alongside more traditional forms of financial crime. Although some victims were instructed to transfer digital assets, others were directed to obtain tangible valuables such as gold bars, showing that the alleged operation used multiple channels to collect funds.
Authorities have so far identified approximately 300 victims connected to the Senior Fraud Scheme across at least 37 states, including Rhode Island. The known financial losses exceed $5 million.
Investigators have separately identified approximately $16 million in suspected fraud proceeds that were allegedly laundered through a related account. Prosecutors emphasized the distinction between the two figures: the $5 million-plus amount represents known losses attributed to the conspiracy, while the $16 million figure concerns suspected proceeds under investigation.
Sun was arrested in New York and initially appeared before a federal court in the Eastern District of New York. He was later transferred to Rhode Island, where the prosecution is being handled.
The geographic spread of the victims underscores the interstate nature of the alleged Senior Fraud Scheme. With victims identified in dozens of states, investigators relied on agencies from several jurisdictions to trace the people, communications and financial activity associated with the operation.
Sun’s sentencing is set for January 6, 2027. The statutory maximum for conspiracy to commit wire fraud is 20 years in federal prison, but the sentence imposed by the court will be determined under applicable federal sentencing rules.
The investigation into the Senior Fraud Scheme was led by Homeland Security Investigations’ Providence office and the IRS Criminal Investigation division through the Rhode Island Homeland Security Task Force.
Several other law enforcement agencies contributed to the investigation, including the Narragansett Police Department, East Providence Police Department, New York Police Department and Texas Department of Public Safety.
HSI offices in New England, New York, Houston and Los Angeles also provided assistance. The U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern District of New York and the Southern District of Texas supported the investigation as well.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Denise M. Barton is prosecuting the case.
The multi-agency investigation reflects the cross-border and interstate scope alleged in the Senior Fraud Scheme, which involved victims in both the United States and Canada and required cooperation among federal, state and local authorities.
The case also arrives amid a broader series of investigations involving cryptocurrency-related fraud and theft. In San Jose, California, police arrested two Dallas men in connection with an alleged September 5 attempted home invasion. Investigators said the suspects posed as delivery workers and believed they were targeting individuals with substantial cryptocurrency holdings.
In another case, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned a Gaza-based Hamas military wing member, two France-based individuals and two organizations over an alleged fundraising network that authorities said moved more than $2 million to Hamas between 2020 and 2026. Treasury said cryptocurrency wallets and money-service businesses were used to transfer part of the funds.
Ukraine’s National Police has also reported dismantling a network of fake cryptocurrency investment platforms that allegedly targeted 62 victims in more than 20 countries. Investigators said the platforms displayed fictitious investment gains, prevented withdrawals and subsequently directed users to approve small test transactions. According to police, those approvals instead gave a wallet drainer access to victims’ assets, which were transferred to wallets controlled by the operators.
For the victims in the New York case, however, the alleged mechanism was broader than a conventional online crypto scam. The Senior Fraud Scheme combined fraudulent technology alerts, impersonation of financial and government institutions, cryptocurrency transfers, bank transactions and physical collection of cash and gold.
The Department of Justice case remains focused on the criminal conduct alleged against the defendants and the evidence presented during the federal prosecution. Sun has admitted his role in the conspiracy, while his sentence will be determined at the scheduled January 2027 hearing.
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