Scammers on the loose

WAPAKONETA - As the risk of cyber-enabled scams increases across the country, Auglaize County law enforcement is hoping a new push for public awareness will stop additional residents from becoming victims.

Auglaize County Sheriff Mike Vorhees, county prosecutor Ben Elder and sheriff's office detective Michael Wiley held a news conference Friday in an effort to warn residents of the increased risk of scams.

Scams targeting Auglaize County residents have resulted in financial losses of well over $100,000 and six arrests in the last calendar year, Vorhees told The Daily Standard prior to Friday's press conference.

"With the exception of St. Marys and Wapak, … it looks like (we receive) at least 200 (scam calls) a year on average. The reports are anywhere from suspicious calls, emails, things of that nature to where people are actually losing money. We get a lot of reports where people have already incurred losses but they've already disconnected with the scammers, or told them that they were going to call law enforcement," Wiley said. "At that point, there's not a lot that we can do, unfortunately. We've had reports where people have mailed or shipped physical cash or gold; we see a lot of times where people are depositing money into Bitcoin, which, depending on the timeframe, is usually not recoverable. Then we see wire transfers as well. The premises vary."

As well Wiley has received reports of romance scams, sextortion, impersonations of federal agencies and more.

"It is so broad. Anything that you can imagine - they're doing. They're just concocting these ruses, whatever people will fall for," he said. "And unfortunately, generally, the people that fall prey to these are typically older."

He prefaced that scams are often underreported due to the shame of possibly being defrauded.

"It certainly is underreported. I personally have known people that were victimized that never reported it. They just took their loss and moved on because a lot of times, especially with the older generation, they're embarrassed," Wiley said. "They don't want people to know. There's a lot of people, they might realize, 'Yep, my money's gone. There's nothing that (authorities) can do for me.'"

A typical scam could begin with a text warning of an active warrant, an email reporting bank fraud or a phone call from the Internal Revenue Service, but it usually ends the same - in a significant financial loss for the victim.

And it's not just occurring locally. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received 1,008,597 total complaints in 2025, an increase from 859,532 the year prior, an April FBI news release states. Phishing/spoofing, extortion and investment schemes were the most frequently reported complaints. Americans over 60 reported approximately $7.7 billion in losses, up 37% from 2024.

Recent local scams

In the last month, the sheriff's office has made three scam-related arrests.

The first incident was reported to the Wapakoneta Police Department on April 24. Two city residents contacted police to report that they may have been scammed out of a large amount of money.

"The victims explained they were communicating with a scammer via telephone. The scam started after getting a virus on their computer and they were instructed to contact Microsoft and then their financial institution," a news release read by Vorhees at Friday's news conference states. "These were not the correct organizations and were scammers. They ultimately made multiple wire transactions totaling losses of significant money, $108,000."

The victims were then further instructed to make a withdrawal of $200,000 to purchase gold, the release states. After authorities took the initial report, Wapakoneta Police told them it was a scam and reached out to the Grand Lake Task Force.

Authorities then worked with the two victims and continued to communicate with the scammers.

"The arrangements for the pickup of the gold bars were arranged for the afternoon of Friday, April 24th," per the release. "The suspect arrived at the residence as scheduled and was immediately arrested."

Feng Huang, 46, of the Peoples Republic of China, is being held on $500,000 bond for theft by deception, a first-degree felony; and tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Just two days later, on April 26, the Auglaize County Sheriff's Office received a report from a Pusheta Township resident that said they'd received an email the week prior from PayPal indicating fraud on their account, a separate news release states.

"The victim followed the link to the PayPal website which turned out to be fraudulent. The scammer then showed the victim a phone number which they claimed was the fraud line for their bank," according to the release. "This put the victim in phone communication with a scammer who instructed the victim to withdraw a large sum of money, $30,000. The victim did withdraw the money as instructed and then later physically handed over the money to an unknown male suspect at a local Auglaize County business."

After the victim returned home, they were reportedly asked to withdraw another $50,000, the release states. They began the process of withdrawing the funds until they spoke with a family member and were encouraged to contact law enforcement.

County detectives conducted an undercover operation on April 28. The victims continued speaking with the reported scammer and made arrangements for a drop off. The victims were again instructed to drive to an Auglaize County business and hand over the money.

"The suspect vehicle later arrived with two females. The money was handed over and the females drove away," per the release. "The vehicle was later stopped and taken into custody were the two females who were then transported to the Auglaize County Correctional Center."

Naijah Thornton, 20, of Redford, Michigan; and Kyndall Wilson, 19, of Redford, Michigan, are each being held at the jail on $250,000 bond for theft by deception, a third-degree felony.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Assisting the county on those two recent investigations was the Wapakoneta Police Department, Grand Lake Task Force, FBI Lima Office, Safe Streets Task Force and Customs and Border Protection.

In January in Auglaize County, the sheriff's office was notified by a St. Marys Township resident that he had been scammed out of "a large sum of money," a past news release states.

The victim stated he was communicating with the scammers via telephone and messaging applications, according to the report. The victim explained the scam started out as a work-from-home opportunity that actually turned into an IT scam. The victim was directed to wire large sums of money to the scammers, who represented that they would then provide his money in cryptocurrency to "recover his lost funds," according to the report.

Per the release, the victim did wire money to the scammers, and was then encouraged to provide another large sum of money to expedite his "case recovery." The victim then withdrew money from his account, and a male suspect arrived at the victim's residence on another day to pick up the money. After this first pick-up was completed, the scammers continued to communicate with the victim and instructed him to provide an additional large sum of money, the report said.

It was at this point that the victim realized he was the victim of a scam and contacted the Auglaize County Sheriff's Office on Jan. 12 to make a theft report.

"During conversation between the victim and reporting deputy the victim agreed to cooperate with our office to investigate the suspects by continuing to communicate and arrange a second pick up," the report from the sheriff's office said. "Our office coordinated with the Grand Lake Task Force, FBI Lima Office and Safe Streets Task Force, as well as U.S. Customs and Border Protection."

When the suspect arrived at the home as scheduled for the second pick-up, he was immediately arrested, the report said. Police identified the suspect as Chuan Zhao, 43, of Brooklyn, New York.

According to the report, Zhao was also identified as a citizen of the People's Republic of China who was in the U.S. under legal documents.

Zhao pleaded guilty in March to two counts of theft by deception, a fourth-degree felony.

He's scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday.

More scams in Mercer

In October 2025 in Mercer County, the sheriff's office reported two recurring phone scams, both of which involved people impersonating actual county sheriff's deputies to solicit money in the form of gift cards.

Mercer County residents reported receiving calls from a person claiming to be a deputy or sergeant from the sheriff's office stating they missed jury duty, and that there is now a warrant for their arrest for failure to appear. The callers then tell the reported victim that they need to buy gift cards to pay for their warrants.

The other scam is targeting area registered sex offenders. Sheriff Doug Timmerman said area individuals who are registered sex offenders reported receiving calls from the purported scammers saying they are "Detective McCoy," or using an actual sheriff's office employee's name, and telling the person that they are "out of compliance." They are then told that they need to pay a fine, usually with gift cards or pre-paid cards.

The calls were coming from phone numbers with local area codes. However, county investigators do not believe the alleged scammers were actually local to the area; instead Timmerman said they found that the numbers are being falsified using special software.

Timmerman noted that law enforcement would never call residents and ask for money or gift cards to clear a warrant.

"Nor will you be arrested if you call our office to check the validity of the accusations," he said.

No arrests have been reported in the Mercer County incident.

Wiley said Auglaize County has also experienced such law enforcement-related scams; and noted that they can be particularly damaging.

"It's frustrating because we don't want the citizens of our county to be victims. And, it's especially frustrating for us when people are claiming to be from the sheriff's office and they're dragging our name through the mud," he said. "Then people are more suspicious -rightfully so - and it makes our job harder because people don't want to talk to us or they get scared. It just makes things more complicated."

What to look for

Due to the fact that scammers target victims of varying ages through varying means of communication, it's important for all residents to be aware of the signs that a scam may be afoot.

Residents should look out for urgent requests, or callers that ask you to not speak with anyone about the requested payment, Wiley said.

"They want to do things right now, you have to do it right now. If they don't want you to communicate with anyone, if they tell you: 'Don't tell your spouse or your kids or your family or your friends.' If they don't want you telling anyone - that's a concern," Wiley said. "A lot of times if they are asking you to withdraw money, they'll specifically tell them to lie to the bankers as to what the money is for or just get the withdrawal, because the banks, when they see people come in spontaneously and are requesting large withdrawals, the banks are trying to vet those transactions to make sure that these people aren't being victimized."

While there are many different warning signs of an impending scam, he said the biggest signs are: urgency, secrecy and emergency.

Anyone that feels they are being scammed or that a scam was attempted against them should contact the sheriff's office of their county to file a report; above all, never give out their personal information over the phone.

Contact the Auglaize County Sheriff's Office at 419-739-6565; Mercer County Sheriff's Office at 419-586-7724; or Darke County Sheriff's Office at 937-548-2020.

Residents can also report the fraud to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. If applicable, call the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 833-372-8311.

SCAMS:
• The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received 1,008,597 total complaints in 2025, an increase from 859,532 the year prior. Phishing/spoofing, extortion and investment schemes were the most common.

• An FBI report from 2025 showed cyber-enabled crimes defrauded Americans of nearly $21 billion, with cryptocurrency and AI-related complaints among the costliest.

• Americans over 60 reported approximately $7.7 billion in losses, up 37% from 2024.