Overview
- A 70-year-old Pleasant Hill woman reported in March 2022 that she lost $350,000 after an online impersonator convinced her to invest her life savings.
- Detective Steven Vuong tracked the cryptocurrency flows and located the majority of the funds in a digital wallet.
- The wallet remained inactive until September 2025, when movement allowed authorities to freeze the assets and complete a seizure.
- Police transferred the recovered funds back to the victim and her family on Dec. 31, 2025, and Chief Scott Vermillion praised the investigation.
- Authorities have not released suspect details and urged potential scam victims to contact Pleasant Hill police at 925-288-4600.