HUNTLEY, IL — A 31-year-old California man is facing felony charges after allegedly trying to scam a Huntley resident — a senior citizen — out of $25,000 through a fraudulent PayPal email, police said Tuesday.
Xu Li, of Alhambra, California, has been charged in Kane County with two felonies:
Attempted theft by deception between $10,000–$100,000
Attempted theft of over $5,000 from a victim over 60
The scam began when the Huntley man received an unsolicited email claiming a $499 subscription renewal had been charged to his PayPal account. When he called the number listed in the email, he was tricked into allowing remote access to his computer, according to a Huntley Police Department news release.
Li, posing as a customer service agent, told the victim he had accidentally refunded $25,000 and began pressuring him to return the money via cash or cryptocurrency.
In reality, the “refund” was merely a transfer between the man’s own bank accounts, police discovered.
Sensing something was wrong, the victim ended the call and contacted Huntley police, who then arranged a sting operation. When Li arrived the next day at the victim’s home to collect the cash, officers arrested him on the spot.
“We commend the resident for trusting his instincts and contacting the police,” Huntley police said in the release. “Scammers rely on fear, urgency, and embarrassment to trick victims.”
The department also warned that fraudsters often target seniors, using fake emails, texts, or calls to report phony charges or account problems.
The case is still under investigation.
