$350,000 Crypto Stolen in Scam Recovered After Three-Year Investigation
Police in Pleasant Hill have finally reunited a 70-year-old woman with her stolen life savings after an extensive three-year probe. The victim had been duped into investing her entire nest egg in an online cryptocurrency scam, which was orchestrated by an unknown individual posing as a man.
The scheme was reported to authorities in March 2022, and Detective Stephen Vuong led the investigation, working closely with the US Secret Service. After months of tireless work, Vuong managed to track down most of the victim's lost funds to an inactive online wallet. It wasn't until September 2025 that the account became active again, prompting Vuong to freeze it and seize the stolen money.
In a remarkable twist, the frozen account was able to generate enough transactions to accumulate $350,000 in just over a year – a staggering sum of money recovered from an individual scam. The funds were returned to their rightful owner on December 30, bringing closure to what was undoubtedly a harrowing experience for the elderly victim.
Police Chief Scott Vermillion hailed Detective Vuong's efforts as "outstanding," calling it "excellent policework" that yielded a positive outcome for the victim. For those who may be targeted by similar scams in the future, authorities are urging them to contact the Pleasant Hill Police Department's non-emergency line at 925-288-4600 for assistance and guidance.
Police in Pleasant Hill have finally reunited a 70-year-old woman with her stolen life savings after an extensive three-year probe. The victim had been duped into investing her entire nest egg in an online cryptocurrency scam, which was orchestrated by an unknown individual posing as a man.
The scheme was reported to authorities in March 2022, and Detective Stephen Vuong led the investigation, working closely with the US Secret Service. After months of tireless work, Vuong managed to track down most of the victim's lost funds to an inactive online wallet. It wasn't until September 2025 that the account became active again, prompting Vuong to freeze it and seize the stolen money.
In a remarkable twist, the frozen account was able to generate enough transactions to accumulate $350,000 in just over a year – a staggering sum of money recovered from an individual scam. The funds were returned to their rightful owner on December 30, bringing closure to what was undoubtedly a harrowing experience for the elderly victim.
Police Chief Scott Vermillion hailed Detective Vuong's efforts as "outstanding," calling it "excellent policework" that yielded a positive outcome for the victim. For those who may be targeted by similar scams in the future, authorities are urging them to contact the Pleasant Hill Police Department's non-emergency line at 925-288-4600 for assistance and guidance.
A three-year investigation and they were able to recover $350,000?! That’s insane! I mean, I know it's a scammer who got caught, but still... how did they manage to do that? 
The detective must be some kind of crypto genius or something. And poor old lady, she just wanted her money back and didn’t expect to have it back after all this time. Anyway, glad it’s finally over for her. It's just another reminder to always keep an eye out for those scammers online 
$350k recovered after 3 yrs of investigation that's insane! i'm so happy for the 70 yr old lady, she must be relieved to get her money back 
detective vuong is a total hero, that policework was top notch! 
the scammers think they can just sit there collecting interest while someone's life savings are being drained? no way! 
u gotta respect Detective Vuong and the team for not giving up on this case 
I feel so bad for this poor woman! Three years is ages, what a relief that her money was finally recovered 
what's crazy is the whole process took 3 whole years I mean, can you imagine having your life savings stuck in limbo like that? 
anyway, kudos to Detective Vuong for his persistence and excellent work 
Poor woman who got scammed out of her life savings - I feel like she's been through hell. But kudos to Detective Vuong for his persistence & excellent work! 
His efforts definitely brought closure to the case & I'm sure it's a huge relief to the victim that her money is back. Fingers crossed that this success story deters others from falling prey to similar scams 
. And the craziest part? The account just came back online and started generating money again! What if that was a trap to get more people in on the scam? Just think about all those other innocent people who could've gotten hurt... this is like, super suspicious, right? 
! The fact that they were able to recover most of her life savings is just mind-blowing 
Those scam artists need to be held accountable, and it's good to see that justice was finally served on our watch 
. And to all my fellow seniors out there, please be cautious when investing your hard-earned cash online! Don't fall for those phishing scams or anything that seems too good (or bad) to be true 
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I mean, i know detectives work hard but this is crazy detective Vuong must've been working day & night on this case 
his efforts paid off in the end though 
and i'm just glad no one else got hurt by that scam 
. I mean, Detective Vuong is a total legend 
! His dedication to solving this case and getting the victim's money back must have been insane 
$350k recovered after 3 yrs of investigation is a huge win for Detective Vuong & the police! 
. I'm so glad justice was served to that poor lady who lost her life savings. She must be overjoyed to have her money back 
. Kudos to Detective Vuong for his persistence & excellent policework 
. It's not cool that this 70-yr-old lady lost her life savings like that, but at least justice was served in the end 
where online is real life 
anyway glad she got her money back though 
. Kudos to Detective Vuong for his excellent work, police chief Scott Vermillion is totally right!