This Florida woman, 79, lost $200K to scammers — then had detectives in her living room when they called back for $30K more, kicking off a sting

That call kicked off an undercover sting. Detectives say the ring took more than $3.5 million from more than 40 elderly victims across Florida.

The "boots on the ground"

It started in July 2025, when a Manatee County man reported a caller pretending to be from the Federal Trade Commission. Detective Gary Cummings told FOX 13 Tampa Bay the formula rarely changes: a fake emergency and a demand to send money now.

When a woman showed up at his home to collect cash, he snapped photos of her and her car, then called police. Those photos led detectives to Xin Liu, 40, a Chinese national who, the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida said, was living in Apopka on an H-1B visa.

Liu was the courier on the ground. Between July 22 and July 30, 2025, she drove to at least six locations around Florida to pick up cash from victims, including one living in a Gainesville assisted-living community, attempting to collect more than $95,000 total. She worked under an alias, posing as an FBI investigator.

She pleaded guilty and, in June 2026, was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison plus restitution.

Liu's arrest led detectives to more victims, including the 79-year-old woman from the opening — already out $200,000 and being worked again. The $30,000 call came while investigators sat with her, and they used it to set up the sting that netted a second courier, a 52-year-old also charged with scheme to defraud and conspiracy.

A third courier, age 56, was later arrested on the same charges. Both new suspects are presumed innocent; the sheriff's office has not released their names because the cases remain pending. A search of a connected home also uncovered thousands of suspected counterfeit goods, triggering a separate federal investigation.