BAXTER COUNTY, Ark. – A Chinese national is facing a felony theft charge after allegedly scamming an elderly Arkansas woman out of $71,000.
According to the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, 34-year-old Wenyan Song, who lists a West Covina, California address, posed as a Microsoft identity theft agent. Authorities say Song contacted an 86-year-old woman from Mountain Home in late February through a pop-up message on her computer that urged her to call a phone number.
When the woman called, Song reportedly warned her of hackers trying to access her computer and finances. Claiming he could protect her money, Song convinced her to withdraw $33,000 from her savings and give it to a “courier” who would deposit it in a secure federal reserve bank. The courier, using a pre-arranged password, collected the cash from her home on March 17.
In a second incident on May 16, the woman was persuaded to close an investment account and hand over another $38,000, also to the fake courier.
In June, Baxter County authorities connected the scam to a similar case in Carroll County’s Eureka Springs-Holiday Island area. A sting operation there led to the arrest of a suspect on May 22—identified as Wenyan Song.
State investigators used cell phone data to link Song to both incidents. A bench warrant was issued for his arrest on July 10 while he was already in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
On July 28, Song was transferred from ICE custody in Little Rock to the Baxter County Jail. He is being held on a $75,000 bond and is also under hold orders from Carroll County and ICE. His trial is set for August 11.
