Cindy Yaohua Gou and Zhu Ping Ge
Two California women, who thought they were picking up $18,000 from a 79-year-old Gardnerville Ranchos woman on Friday, ended up picking up felonies accusing them of exploitation of the elderly.
Bail was set at $45,000 cash each on Saturday for Cindy Yaohua Gou, 33, of Rowland Heights and Zhu Ping Ge, 29 of San Gabriel.
Sheriff Dan Coverley said it was the second time in four months involving the extortion of money from elderly residents.
In September, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office arrested Minglong Chen when he arrived at the home of a 91-year-old woman in Minden to pick up $12,000 in cash that the woman had agreed to pay.
After agreeing to pay the cash to the suspects, but before the money was picked up, both women became suspicious that they were being scammed and contacted the Sheriff’s Office.
The latest victim received an email stating that she had signed up for a subscription with a reoccurring fee. The victim called the number associated with the email to complain that she had not signed up for the subscription. The suspects agreed to refund the victim the fee and asked for her bank account information, which the victim gave to the suspects.
The suspects then made it appear that they had accidentally refunded the victim much more money than the subscription fee and they demanded that the victim repay them.
“The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office reminds residents that these types of scams happen every day,” Coverley said. “If you have never received an email, text message or phone call from one of these scammers, you probably will one day. The Sheriff’s Office encourages residents to remain vigilant and be aware that these scams are rampant in our society today. Always be skeptical and suspicious of any email, text message or phone call from someone you do not recognize.”
Some of the more common scams are callers who claim that you have won a prize, that you owe someone money, that you have a warrant for your arrest or a relative has been arrested and needs money for bail or legal fees.
Both suspects are set to appear in East Fork Justice Court on Wednesday.
