Illinois Woman Loses $318K in Gold-Bar Scam, Then Helps Police Sting the Courier

Photo via Capitol News Illinois

In a devastating example of an elderly scam, a 78-year-old woman from Marion, Illinois, was allegedly defrauded of hundreds of thousands of dollars in an elaborate gold-bar scam — and then helped investigators arrest the man accused of picking up the loot.

The Popup That Started It All

In April 2026, the woman — identified only as D.B. in federal court records — reportedly saw a pop-up on her computer warning that the machine had been compromised. She searched online for Microsoft support, called the first number shown in the results, and reached a man calling himself "Mike Williams." Williams allegedly claimed to be a supervisor on Microsoft's fraud-prevention team, and the woman gave him remote access to her computer.

An "Edward Jones" Impersonator Tightens the Grip

Williams then handed her off to another man calling himself "Kevin Jones," who claimed to work in Edward Jones' fraud-prevention department. Jones allegedly told her that her Edward Jones investment accounts had been compromised. The impersonation scheme quickly turned controlling: according to court records, Jones had her sign a purported nondisclosure agreement, send him "good morning" and "good night" texts every day, and carry a "tracker phone" that he monitored.

Nearly $1.8 Million Moved, Hundreds of Thousands in Gold

Following Jones's directions, she moved nearly $1.8 million from her Edward Jones accounts into a money market account and spent more than $823,000 on gold bars — purchases she believed were needed so a supposed federal agent could hold the gold for safekeeping. On June 8, she handed over gold worth $318,459 — six 1-ounce bars and twenty 100-gram bars — in the Marion Walmart parking lot to a man she believed was a U.S. Treasury agent, after exchanging the code word "black bug." Jones then told her to convert more than half a million dollars more into gold — and she did.

Doubts, Then a Call to Marion Police

She grew suspicious when the federal seal on documents Jones sent her did not look genuine, and she contacted the Marion Police Department.

The Sting: Sandbags and "Poker Queen"

Working with investigators, police helped arrange a sting. On July 7, Jones guided her to package two kilograms of gold bars worth about $272,000 and meet the supposed "agent" at the Cornerstone Church in Marion, near Sam's Club, using the code word "poker queen." The box was actually filled with sandbags. Investigators arrested Ruoyu Lian, 30, of Flushing, New York, moments after he took the box.

Guilty Plea and an Expected Prison Sentence

Lian pleaded guilty in federal court in Benton on September 24 to felony wire fraud and conspiracy to commit the same offense — each charge carrying up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. As of October 2026, he remains in the Franklin County Jail pending a January 14 sentencing hearing. Under the plea deal, his sentence is expected to fall within the federal guideline range of 40 to 52 months, and he will owe more than $318,000 in restitution for the gold that was never recovered. As a Chinese citizen and legal permanent resident, he is expected to be deported after serving his sentence. His defense attorney said Lian acted only as the scheme's "courier" — a New York sushi chef allegedly paid about two weeks' restaurant wages to fly to Illinois — and called him "expendable" to the ringleaders, who remain at large.

Federal Warning on Courier Scams

The FBI warned in September 2025 about a rise in so-called "gold bar and bulk cash courier scams," reporting more than 1,700 such scams between 2023 and May 2025 with reported losses exceeding $186 million.

Scam-Awareness Takeaways

Take this case as a scam alert. Red flags here included fake computer popups, a stranger gaining remote access to a computer, demands for secrecy and a purported NDA, and instructions to convert savings into gold for supposed "agents." No legitimate company or government agency operates this way — real tech support will never ask for remote access out of the blue, and real federal agents will never ask you to buy gold bars.

Florida Man Posed as Elon Musk and Scammed a Texas Woman Out of Nearly $600K

Jeffrey Moynihan was arrested after scamming a woman. (source: Bradenton Police Department)

A Florida man pretending to be one of the richest men in the world — Elon Musk — convinced a 74-year-old Texas woman he met on Facebook to hand him nearly $600,000, promising her an investment return of $56 million. Instead, he strung her along for months to earn her trust before taking her money. This is one of the most brazen investment scams built on celebrity impersonation in recent memory, and it carries lessons every internet user should know.

How the Elon Musk Impersonation Scam Worked

According to reporting by WAFF 48 News, the woman believed the man she met on Facebook was the real Elon Musk. After exchanging messages for months, she gave him almost $600,000 of her money because he promised to grow her investment into $56 million. The scammer played the long game: months of friendly conversation built the trust that made the massive "investment" feel safe. By the time the money was gone, there was no Musk and no investment — just a con artist in Florida.

The Man Behind the Fake Elon Musk

The man scamming her was Jeffrey Moynihan (seen in the image above), and he was arrested by the Bradenton Police Department, which serves the area on US 41 between Tampa and Sarasota, Florida. He pleaded "no contest" to the charges and received nearly 30 years of probation for his crimes. A representative of the department noted that scammers often target older people who may be more isolated: "A lot of times, people that are older may not have such a large social group. And if you're home alone for a day or two, and someone calls you or sends an email, and it's a very friendly email, it can really trick people." Hopefully his arrest is a wake-up call that ends his pattern of scamming honest people.

Red Flags in This Scam

• A "celebrity" contacting you out of the blue. Real billionaires do not pitch investments to strangers on Facebook.
• A promise of absurd returns: turning $600,000 into $56 million is fantasy, not finance.
• Months of grooming: the scammer invested time in friendship before ever asking for money. Long cons are the hardest to spot.
• No verifiable business, contract, or platform — just messages and promises.
• Targeting isolation: the victim was 74 and home alone, exactly the profile scammers hunt for.

What to Do If a Stranger Contacts You on Facebook

If you think you are being targeted by a scammer, there are ways to protect yourself. First, stop all communication immediately. Next, alert a trusted family member, a friend, or a neighbor about what has been going on — tell them as many details as possible so they can help. Third, report the incident to your local police department, including the contact information for the individual.

And add these scam-proofing habits:

• Never send money or "invest" based on a social media conversation, no matter how famous the person claims to be.
• Verify identities independently: look for official, verified accounts and news coverage — not screenshots or links the stranger sends you.
• Do a reverse image search on profile photos; scammers routinely steal pictures.
• Report impersonation accounts to the platform and file a report with the FTC's ReportFraud.ftc.gov or the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
• Talk about scams openly with older relatives — awareness is the best defense.

Celebrity impersonation scams only work when victims feel too embarrassed to ask for help. Jeffrey Moynihan got caught, but copycats are running this same playbook right now. If an "Elon Musk" slides into your messages with a can't-miss investment, delete it — the real one isn't looking for your money.

Bessemer Police Warn Residents After Fake FBI Callers Scam Two People Out of Thousands

Photo by Ajay Suresh via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0); "Scam Reported" text added

Two Bessemer, Alabama residents lost thousands of dollars after scammers posing as FBI agents convinced them to pull cash from their bank accounts, according to the Bessemer Police Department.

How the fake FBI phone scam worked

The callers already had the victims' bank account numbers, which made the calls sound legitimate. They told victims their accounts were locked and asked them to withdraw money in person to help with an investigation. After the victims withdrew the cash, the scammers instructed them to leave with a box — either a mailing box or, in one case, a cereal box with the cereal dumped out — put the money inside, and tape it shut. Police say the victims never got their money back in this phone scam.

Why the impersonation scam is so believable

Detective Jonathan Brady of the Bessemer Police Department said the scheme works because the callers come armed with personal information. "If an FBI agent calls you, they're not going to ask you for $25,000, so you definitely don't want to hand over any money," Brady said. Carl Bates, president of the Better Business Bureau, called the fake FBI scheme one of the most common scams the Better Business Bureau encounters, and warned that getting hold of someone's personal information "is not hard these days." Residents of Bessemer, Alabama should treat any such call as a scam alert.

How to protect yourself from fraud

• The real FBI will never call you and demand cash — treat any such demand as fraud.
• Never share your driver's license or bank account numbers with an unsolicited caller.
• Shred documents containing personal information.
• If you receive one of these calls, report it to the police right away and save any phone numbers, receipts, and vehicle descriptions. Heed every police warning about impersonation scam tactics.