The warning popped up on a computer screen, styled to look like it came from a well-known technology company: the machine had been hacked, a bank account was compromised, or the user was under investigation. Victims were told to call a “live agent.” That opening move drew about 300 victims in at least 37 states into a fraud ring, and the man who hired its couriers has now pleaded guilty.
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From a pop-up to a courier at the door
Xuehai Sun, 38, of Flushing, New York, admitted on September 30, 2026, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island said in a press release. U.S. District Judge Mary S. McElroy took the plea. The charge carries up to 20 years in federal prison, and sentencing is set for January 6, 2027.
Victims across the United States and Canada, mostly elderly, were told by the “live agent” that their assets needed safeguarding. On later calls they were passed to people posing as representatives of financial institutions or government agencies, among them the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Reserve Bank. Money moved by wire transfer, by cryptocurrency and by cash withdrawals used to buy gold bars, sent to accounts that were supposedly controlled by government agencies but were in fact directed to people in the scheme.
Who handed over the names
One detail in the plea matters for any household with an older relative. According to the release, other co-conspirators provided the victims’ names and information to Sun. Sun then sent couriers to collect the funds or gold, knowing they were obtained through fraudulent statements.
The release does not say where those names and details came from. Phone numbers and home addresses are the kind of information that data brokers and people-search sites list, and Incogni sends removal requests to those sites on a person’s behalf and keeps re-sending them. That is the part of the chain a household can work on, since a caller cannot be stopped from phoning a number that is still listed somewhere.
It also matters what the pop-up asked a victim to do: call a number the scammers supplied. The FTC’s government impersonation guidance says to hang up on unexpected contact, never call back the number given, and use a number already known to be correct if there is any doubt. It also says caller ID cannot be trusted because it can be faked, and that the agency will never tell anyone to “withdraw cash or buy gold and give it to someone.”
The numbers behind the plea
Sun admitted he had people working for him as couriers who picked up cash or gold from victims. He also admitted talking with co-conspirators about sending the couriers, moving the gold and cash, the amounts owed to members of the group, and converting gold to cash.
Known losses exceed $5 million. Investigators identified another $16 million in suspected fraud proceeds that was laundered through a related account, a figure the release describes as suspected rather than proven. Sun was arrested in New York, appeared first in the Eastern District of New York and was then moved to Rhode Island. Assistant U.S. Attorney Denise M. Barton is handling the case for the government, which Homeland Security Investigations in Providence and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated as part of the Rhode Island Homeland Security Task Force.
What to do if a pop-up or caller talks about moving savings
The first rule the FTC gives is to ignore unexpected contact and reach any agency or company on a number already known to be correct, never the one in a pop-up or on a caller’s say-so. Anyone targeted can report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Anyone who already sent money, crypto or gold should write down the time of each call, the numbers that appeared, the names the callers used and every transfer or purchase receipt before contacting the bank and the FTC. Dates and amounts are what the bank and the FTC will ask for first.
Families that look after an older parent can agree on a rule that holds in every version of this script: a request to hand cash or gold to a courier ends the call, and the person who gets one tells a relative before doing anything else. The FTC says outright that it will never ask anyone to give gold to someone.
The names that were handed to Sun
In Rhode Island, co-conspirators supplied Sun with victims’ names and information before couriers went out, and about 300 people in at least 37 states were caught up in the scheme. Incogni asks data brokers and people-search sites to remove personal information, sends the removal requests on a person’s behalf and keeps re-sending them. Less personal data on broker lists can mean fewer scam calls, texts and emails reaching a household.
Remove your name and number from broker lists with Incogni →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
