BY COLE SINANIAN
cole@queensledger.com
Thirty-seven-year-old Bayside Woman Tiffany Yang was sentenced Wednesday for running an online scam that stole millions from 13 victims around the country.
Yang befriended the victims online and convinced them to invest their money in fraudulent assets and fake websites, which showed artificial gains to convince the victims to continue depositing money. Eventually, the money was routed to shell companies that Yang controlled and the websites where the victims had been “investing” the money were shut down.
As part of the sentencing, the 13 victims are receiving $2.5 million in restitution, or 75% of the total funds stolen from them.
Yang pleaded guilty on March 18 to grand larceny in the third degree before Supreme Court Justice Leigh Cheng and sentenced to120 days in jail. Restitution was made in full by April 9, according to the office of Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. Additionally, authorities will be auctioning off several luxury handbags and watches seized from Yang, whose proceeds will go towards further restitution for the victims once sold.
“These so-called pig butchering scams are exploitative and profoundly harmful,” said Katz in a press statement. “The defendant participated in a predatory scheme that targeted victims across the United States and carefully cultivated their trust before luring them into fraudulent investment opportunities and stealing their money. Thanks to the diligent work of my Cybercrime Unit, the defendant has been held accountable for her actions, and 13 victims will recover a substantial portion of the funds that were stolen from them.”
One victim began chatting with an online user called “Lily List” over Facebook messenger in March 2023. As the conversation continued, trust grew, the chat moved to WhatsApp and eventually “Lily List” proposed a financial opportunity to the victim on a trading platform called Spread Ex Ltd. The company’s name appears to mimic that of “Spread Ex,” a legitimate financial and betting services company.
A short while later, the victim began wiring money from his personal accounts to what he believed to be his personal Spread Ex Ltd. account – completing 13 wire transfers between March 2023 and February 2024. All the while, the victim regularly logged into the fraudulent website to view his “investments,” which appeared to be growing.
According to a press release from Katz’s office, the victim eventually attempted to withdraw money from the account but was unable to do so. He then lost access to the Spread Ex Ltd website before it was removed in its entirety. The subsequent investigation surrounding the victim’s losses determined that one of the victim’s wire transfers was deposited into a JP Morgan Chase account linked to a residential property on 77th Avenue, Apartment 2B, in Flushing. A records search revealed that at least 97 JP Morgan Chase customers, many purporting to be businesses, had used the same apartment as the listed address on the accounts. Some of the names on these accounts were Jian Ma Foot Spa 2 Inc., Chen Graceful Nails, Inc., Chen the Bronx Bar Inc., Chen New Funny Nail Inc., Chen I love Spa Inc., and Fend Thao Nail Inc. A further review showed multiple wire transfers into these accounts that were recalled or were confirmed to be fraudulent by the sender.
“Pig butchering” refers to a kind of cybercrime in which scammers earn a victim’s trust by chatting with them online — often under the pretext of a long-distance friendship or romantic relationship — before persuading them to deposit money into a fraudulent account or invest in a fake cryptocurrency.
Originating in China in the 2010s, the phrase “pig butchering” evokes earning an animal’s trust in order to fatten it up before slaughter. The practice has been linked to human trafficking in Southeast Asia, as many of the perpetrators are forced to work as scammers in windowless “scam centers” in Cambodia, Laos, or Myanmar. A 2023 New York Times investigation documented a 28-year man who was told he had been hired as a translator for an online e-commerce company, before being trafficked to Thailand by a Chinese gang and forced to work as a “pig-butcherer” in a scam center.
