The Bethesda couple realized they had been scammed after two purchases of gold bars worth over $367,000 dollars and a wire transfer of over $41,000 dollars.
Gaithersburg, MD – 23-year-old Yongxian Huang, of Brooklyn, NY, has been arrested for allegedly targeting a 75-year-old husband and wife through a government-imposter related gold bar scam.
Beginning in September 2024, the victims received a text message appearing to be from Apple, which notified them of an unauthorized charge on their Apple accounts and asked them to contact an Apple representative.
The victims called the provided phone number and talked with several people portraying themselves to be Apple employees. The victims were eventually connected with Huang who claimed to work for the Federal Trade Commission. The victims were then directed to convert their assets into gold bars for safekeeping with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to prevent the assets from being used for child pornography and the purchase of missiles for Russia. After two purchases of gold bars worth over $367,000 dollars and a wire transfer of over $41,000 dollars, the Bethesda couple realized they had been scammed and contacted the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD).
The MCPD-Financial Crimes Section (FCS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation – Baltimore Field Office worked with the victims to continue communications with the scammers and arranged a pick-up of over $84,000 dollars’ worth of gold bars. On Thursday, November 14, 2024, an MCP-FCS detective posing as the female victim handed a package to Yongxian Huang, who then got in his vehicle and drove away. Huang was surveilled as he traveled to New York, where he was subsequently arrested by officers from the New York Police Department.
Huang was transported to a detention center in New York, where he is awaiting extradition to Montgomery County.
