00:00Un man says he lost half a million dollars in an elaborate elder fraud scheme.
00:05He lost his entire life savings and put his house up for sale.
00:08Only on two, he spoke to KPIC2's Jaewon Jung on how he fell for that scheme
00:13and how he's trying to get his life back. Jaewon?
00:17Yeah, Lisa and Andy, that man is 65-year-old Heap Nguyen.
00:22He's a Vietnamese-American immigrant.
00:24He tells me it all started with a legitimate letter from the IRS last December
00:29stating that someone stole his identity.
00:31Just a week or two later, he got a call from someone claiming to be from the Vietnam embassy.
00:36Now, he shared with me a recording of that phone call, which was in Vietnamese.
00:41The caller telling him his identity was being used overseas to launder money and send illegal goods.
00:47In order for him to clear his name, the caller told him to send money for nearly five months.
00:53They continued to call him, even sending him AI-generated videos impersonating government officials
00:58and fake documents.
01:00Wynn believed this was related to the official IRS letter he had received
01:04and sent away his entire life savings, including his 401k.
01:08Now, he tells me he's desperate for help.
01:11Now, I'm 65-year-old. I think I'm 67. I'm retired.
01:16You know, I'm not working no more.
01:18But now I continue to work.
01:20I don't know when I retire or I have to work until I die.
01:26His daughter, Kathy, who you see next to him, is currently helping him out, trying to make ends meet.
01:32Both of them telling me they're in the process of selling his house to pay off some of the debt.
01:37Now, if you or someone you know also fell victim to a similar scheme,
01:42you can call the National Elder Fraud Hotline.
01:45That number is on your screen.
01:47Coming up tonight at 6, I'll tell you how much elder fraud has cost Americans in the past.
01:53We're live in Houston.
01:54J. Wan Jung, KPRC 2 News.
