Elderly Napa man loses $20K in PayPal scam

(KRON) -- A 93-year-old Napa resident lost $20,000 after being swept up in an email scam targeting elderly people across the San Francisco Bay Area, according to the Napa Police Department.

The scam was initiated on the morning of Oct. 27 when the elderly Napa resident received an email that instructed him to call a number related to a PayPal transaction, police said. Upon calling the number, the victim was told that he was paid in excess of $30,000 and was asked to withdraw cash from his bank account. The victim was instructed to place the cash in a box and a courier would come to retrieve it.

The 93-year-old was able to withdraw $20,000 in cash and gave it to a man who arrived at his residence to pick it up, authorities said. The victim told the courier that he would get the remaining $10,000 by Monday, the following day, and a pickup time was arranged.

Napa PD detectives received a report of the incident, and contacted the courier just before noon on Oct. 28 at the pickup location. The suspect, identified by police as Zhi Deng, 28, of San Jose, was arrested.

Deng told police that he was originally from New York, and he was sent to California to work as a courier and collect money from elderly people who were being scammed, according to Napa PD. “He worked all over the Bay Area and knew there were other couriers like him in the area,” police said.

Deng was booked into the Napa County Detention Center for obtaining money by false pretenses, elder abuse and attempted grand theft. He posted bail four hours after his arrest, police said.

The victim’s $20,000 in cash was not recovered.