A Chinese national seeking asylum in New York City allegedly attempted to scam an elderly Buffalo-area woman out of $360,000 of her inheritance and life’s savings, using an internet fraud scheme while claiming to be a “Microsoft security” representative.

Didi Zou, 39, was arrested in June for conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud and faced a July detention hearing where U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah McCarthy ordered him to remain in custody while the federal case proceeds, The Buffalo News reported Wednesday.

Attorney Jeffrey T. Bagley, an assistant federal public defender representing Zou – a temporary work visa-holder seeking asylum in New York City – claimed in court that Zou is an alleged “white-collar” crime defendant and “not one that’s a violent one,” according to the News.

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Didi Zou, 39, was arrested in June for conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud. He is a Chinese national seeking asylum and is in New York City on a temporary work visa, according to The Buffalo News. (Niagara County Sheriff’s Office; Matt Jelonek/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“So stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from elderly people would not be a danger?” McCarthy asked. “It’s callous, it’s greed-driven, and it had devastating consequences to members of the community.”

Zou is alleged to have directed an elaborate scam that led to the unnamed elderly Tonawanda woman giving him, as he posed as an IRS agent, $20,000 and “gold coins/bullion to protect their funds in the ‘IRS Banking’ account,” according to the Justice Department.

“Mr. Zou is nothing more than a mule,” Bagley claimed in court, according to the report, adding, “The masterminds behind the stealing, they’re not going to be the ones showing up for face-to-face interactions.”

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Didi Zou, 39, was arrested in June during a traffic stop after having an FBI-IRS sting track him via fake gold. (Niagara County Sheriff’s Office; Matt Jelonek/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Assistant U.S. attorney Colleen McCarthy says there is evidence of Zou having traveled from New York City to New Jersey and Indiana, for potential “other pickups” and internet fraud victims, according to the News.

Zou is alleged to have used internet hacking, passwords, fake names and posing as a federal agent to scam the elderly women in the elaborate scheme.

“He was not used,” McCarthy said, rejecting Zou attorney’s claim of being an unwitting “mule.” “He was involved.”

The scheme allegedly started on May 15, when the elderly woman was logging payments and bills into a Microsoft Excel workbook. She received a purported Microsoft alert on her computer screen with the phrase, “Microsoft Security,” and instructions to call a phone number, according to the criminal complaint.

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An internet security scam led to an FBI and IRS investigation to bust a Chinese national from New York City for allegedly posing as an IRS agent.

She called that number, which kicked off a month-long scheme, allegedly directed by Zou, “to set up a bank account with the IRS on their personal banking website and move their funds to the IRS Bank because of the ‘hackers’ in their computer,” according to a DOJ release.

Fearing hackers, the woman downloaded software at the alleged scammer’s instruction that surrendered remote access to her computer, as well as banking details and passwords.

The reported $360,000 in assets included “profits from the sale of their parents’ house, inherited savings, and multiple CDs.”

The alleged scheme led the woman to give $20,000 to an IRS “agent” at a coffee shop near her home in Tonawanda, New York, and make five purchases of gold coins/bullion and hand those over at the local coffee shop through June 18.

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The gold was fake and tagged with tracking devices after the victim worked with FBI agents, the IRS and New York State Police in a sting.

Zou was taken into custody after a traffic stop, telling a New York state trooper he was dropping off a friend in the Buffalo area and heading back to his home in Brooklyn, according to the News.

Microsoft is not a party to this criminal scheme, but FOX Business did reach out to the company for comment Wednesday morning.

Tech-support imposter scams have surged nationwide, frequently weaponizing consumer trust in major brand names like Microsoft, Apple, or Amazon, the FBI warns.

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According to federal cyber regulators, these schemes generally follow a familiar playbook:

The Pop-Up Trap: Malware or compromised web browsers trigger an unclosable banner or loud audio warning claiming the device is infected or hacked.

The Fake Hotline: Victims are instructed to call a toll-free number where operators act helpful while establishing control.

The Financial Drain: Scammers often persuade victims to grant remote access to their computers, log into online bank accounts, or transfer cash, wire funds, buy gold bars, or convert money into cryptocurrency under the guise of “safekeeping” or “fixing the breach.”

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Major tech firms, including Microsoft, emphasize that legitimate corporations never display unsolicited pop-up messages containing phone numbers to call for technical support, nor do they ask for payments in cryptocurrency or wire transfers.

Law enforcement agencies warn consumers that if an unexpected warning freezes a computer screen, they should never call the phone number listed. Instead, reboot the device, disconnect from the internet, and verify any account issues directly through official corporate websites.

ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood is defending her fund’s stake in SpaceX, declaring the aerospace and satellite network pioneer could become the “most important company in global history” despite the stock’s recent slide and an upcoming $116 billion share unlock.

During an interview on “Mornings with Maria” Wednesday, Wood explained why she remains bullish on SpaceX after funds managed by ARK Invest allocated $80 million to the position following its public debut.

“[Down] from its peak, it is,” Wood said, “but of course not from the IPO price. We think this could become the most important company in history, and I mean in global history.”

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“We’re talking about not only really exploring a new world — the universe — in terms of its launch capabilities and helping others to do so as well, but also a global communications network. Really, think telecom, that’s been a very local business. In fact, the way to break into countries historically was to buy the [telecommunications companies], no longer.”

ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood doubled down on her bullish stance for SpaceX stock on FOX Business’ “Mornings with Maria.” (Getty Images)

Just before Wednesday’s opening bell, SpaceX stock was trading around $123.50 per share. According to Barron’s, the stock is down about 47% from its high of about $225, and has shed nearly $1.4 trillion in market value. This puts SpaceX in eighth place by market capitalization, behind Meta for the first time since its debut.

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Wood previously said in a May interview with Bloomberg that she imagines SpaceX will be “volatile,” but applauded founder Elon Musk’s “incredible” ability to vertically integrate all of his companies, including Tesla, xAI and Neuralink.

Musk warned investors against trying to short-sell the stock last week in a post on X, saying, “The survival probability of firms that maintain a significant short position in SpaceX over time is very low.”

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The former chief executive of Southern Water has been charged alongside three others over an alleged plan to manipulate water quality tests to avoid paying millions of pounds in penalties, it can now be reported.

Matthew Wright is accused of conspiring to defraud the Environment Agency (EA) and water regulator Ofwat between 2012 and 2017 along with Philip Barker, Clive Massey and Mark Gregory, who also worked at the company.

The EA previously asked a judge to issue a summons against Wright and the others charging them with the offence.

Wright’s solicitor said his client “denies all wrongdoing and has co-operated fully with the Environment Agency’s investigation”.

The summons was issued last year but Wright launched a legal challenge which was dismissed by two senior judges on Wednesday.

Wright’s lawyers told the High Court in June that the EA did not have the power to issue the summons and it should be thrown out.

But the judges dismissed his claim and ruled restrictions previously preventing reporting of the legal challenge should be lifted.

Separate court listings showed the case against 60-year-old Wright, of Haslemere, Surrey, Barker, 57, of West Chiltington, West Sussex, 64-year-old Massey, of Brandhill, Shropshire, and 63-year-old Gregory, of Southampton, were scheduled to be heard at Medway Magistrates’ Court on 14 July.

The four are accused of conspiring between 2012 and 2017 to defraud those conducting the environmental and financial regulation duties of Southern Water, including the EA and Ofwat, by “the implementation of artificial no-flow events at wastewater treatment works”.

The court listings show Southern Water has separately been charged with dozens of offences of failing to comply with or contravening an environmental permit condition between 2013 and 2017 at multiple wastewater treatment works.

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