A man arrested for defrauding a 62-year-old San Mateo County resident out of a large amount of money through a scheme that could be linked to a larger international scam, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
On Tuesday, March 12, the man was first contacted by email, which led to phone calls, then remote computer access. The suspect, identified as Hongliang He, 38, of Southern California, posed as a representative of a large antivirus and cybersecurity software company and told the victim he was entitled to a refund. Over the course of a few hours, the man was told he needed to pay a large sum of money to correct an error in the refund amount. The suspect collected the money a few hours later from the man’s house, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators are working to identify other suspects involved in this case and believe there may be additional victims yet to be identified. Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to contact Detective Matthew West at mwest@smcgov.org or (650) 363-4050. Additionally, anonymous tips can be provided via the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office Anonymous Tip Line at (800) 547-2700.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.