On March 6, 2025, Nassau County Police announced the arrest of seven individuals connected to a $20 million money laundering scheme that defrauded over 1,800 victims across 45 states. According to investigators:
- The scammers generated fake virus popups or sent fraudulent text messages to their victims, urging them to call a designated “suppoat” line.
- The scammers will then deceive their victims into believing their personal information was used to subscribe to CHILD PORNOGRAPHY from PornHub.
- In order to clear themselves of any wrongdoing, the victims will be asked to purchase Lowe’s and Home Depot gift cards.
- The gift cards would then be used to purchase construction supplies that were later resold to local plumbing and home improvement businesses.
Seven scammers were arrested and face a maximum of 15 years in prison on charges of 2nd-degree money laundering and 4th-degree conspiracy:
- Sky Cunhang Lin, a 36-year-old from Flushing, Queens who is believed to be the group’s leader.
- Lifa Wang, a 49-year-old from Queens
- Hai Tao Liu, a 38-year-old from Staten Island
- Yu Lin, a 35-year-old from Queens
- Jie Lin, a 32-year-old from Queens
- Lixi Wang, a 40-year-olkd from Queens
- Jia Bin Chen, a 39-year-old from Queens.
During the arrests, police have also recovered:
- 12 box trucks containing $650,000 worth of merchandise
- $100,000 in cash
- high-end jewelry
- handbags.