On December 31, 2025, a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Florida indicted 40-year-old Chinese national Xin Liu for serving as a money mule for a “phantom hacker” scam, where
- The scammers will create fraudulent popups on their victims’ computer and later call them under the guise of officials with the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury to falsely claim their identity was stolen and that their money was slowly being removed to purchase Bitcoin.
- Once they gain remote access to their victims’ computer, the scammer will then ask their victim to withdraw $20,000 from their bank account without speaking to anyone from their bank on the grounds that the “hacker” had “accomplices” in said bank.
- The money will then go to the scammers, either through a Wells Fargo bank account, mailed to a business in California or by handing it off to a designated courier or money mule who will also fraudulently pose as an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
In conflicting statements, Liu admitted to having downloaded a Chinese social media app and saw a post on there, asking for people to work as a driver and be paid for simply picking up packages and taking them to other people. Though told all of her clients would be elderly, she was asked to give the packages to an Arabic man in St. Petersburg, Florida, albeit after taking part of the cash from each pick-up.
Liu already has a prior non-violent felony conviction and faces up to 20 years prison on a conspiracy charge for wire fraud. However, since she is also a Chinese national, I hope she enjoys Gautmo whilst reading about the Tianenmen Square Massacre!