A Virginia man is facing multiple felony charges in connection with a scam that bilked an elderly Tupelo couple out of nearly $20,000.
Yao Lin, 50, of Ruther Glen, Virginia, has been charged with three counts of false pretense and two counts of mail fraud. He could also face additional federal charges in connection with the crime.
Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley said the case started back in March when the couple received an illegal telemarketing-style call. That was followed by a second call asking the couple to send money via gift cards. After sending $19,000 to Lin, the victims contacted the Tupelo Police Department, who brought in the PSC investigators for possible no-call violations.
"Time is our enemy on these cases," said District Attorney John Weddle during a press conference, Tuesday. "They use rolling phone numbers and numbers that don't last a long time. And many times, these folks are outside the boundaries of the state or the country."
Weddle said because the victims reported it quickly and the PSC got involved, investigators were able to follow the trail while it was still hot and arrest Yin earlier this month.
"Most times, these cases are very hard to track down and have several layers," Presley said. "Our investigators were able to peel back those layers and find him."
The investigation led to Yin who was in Georgia at the time of his arrest. He is also facing charges in Georgia. Tupelo Police Chief Bart Aguirre said once there was enough evidence against Yin, he was arrested by Georgia authorities and eventually brought to Tupelo in late April. He has since bonded out and returned to Georgia.
For Aguirre, Presley and Weddle, the story is all too familiar — the elderly falling victim to scams out of fear or the hopes of a big payout. One style of the scam tells the victims there is an arrest warrant for them because they missed jury duty or some other crime.
A version has the person's Social Security number connected to a crime. To resolve the problem, the perpetrator claims the victim needs to send money on a gift card.
The other scam tells the person they won the lottery or were eligible for a special government grant. All they need to do is send in money to handle the processing fees.
In both scams, once a person sends in money, the scammers ask for a little more and the totals can add up quickly.
