Two ‘money mules’ arrested in Texarkana during weeklong sting targeting scams on the elderly

Two men accused of working as cash couriers for overseas scam rings were arrested in Miller County last month after a weeklong undercover operation in which investigators posed as elderly fraud victims, authorities said.

Lin Chenghao, 45, and Mohamed Faizal Haque, 39, of Dallas, each face two Class B felony charges in Miller County Circuit Court: theft of property over $25,000 and unauthorized use of another person’s property to facilitate a crime, court records show. Both men traveled to Texarkana to collect money from an undercover officer posing as a victim, according to a news release on the operation.

The release said Lin is in the United States on a visa waiver from China and that Haque recently became a U.S. citizen.

Sheriff’s deputies arrested Haque on Sept. 22, and the 8th South Drug Task Force arrested Lin the next day, according to records of their first court appearances. Each charge carries five to 20 years in prison.

Lin is being held in the Miller County jail on a $200,000 bond. He appeared before a judge Sept. 25 with an interpreter on the phone and was appointed a public defender. Haque’s bond was set at $25,000, and he was released Sept. 25 after a bail bond company posted it, records show. Both men are due back in court Oct. 13.

Prosecutors formally charged Haque on Oct. 1. The criminal information identifies the person whose money he is accused of taking only as a “confidential victim.” As of Monday, no information had been filed against Lin.

The operation ran from Sept. 21 to Sept. 26 and brought together the 8th South Drug Task Force, the Miller County Sheriff’s Office, the Texarkana Arkansas Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI and the 9th West Drug Task Force. Two independent scam investigators who go by Chappy Grey and Bullracksin took part, along with Trilogy Media, a YouTube channel known for confronting scammers on camera.

The team spent the week “baiting and intercepting scammers who came into our community to steal money from the elderly,” the release said.

Investigators said the work helped identify international scam organizations that are stealing millions of dollars from Americans across the country. It also turned up real victims in Texas, Florida, Arkansas and other states. Investigators contacted those victims or their families to stop payments that were underway or to prevent further losses, the release said.

The team collected bank account numbers and the addresses scammers use to receive cash and reported them to the appropriate agencies. Keeping scammers on the line had a side benefit, investigators said: time spent talking to an undercover officer was time they could not spend “calling your grandparents and other potential victims.”

“Elder-fraud schemes often cause devastating financial and emotional harm to victims and their families,” said Matt Wright, special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans. “This operation demonstrates the importance of strong partnerships among federal, state, and local law enforcement to identify those facilitating these crimes, protect vulnerable individuals, and disrupt the criminal networks behind them.”

Wright encouraged families to talk with older relatives about common scam tactics and to report suspected fraud promptly.

Investigators said scammers frequently gain full access to a victim’s phone and computer, including the camera, once a scam begins, and they keep that access. “They can see and hear everything going on in your home in live view,” the release said.

The scammers use that access to catch victims at their most vulnerable and wear them down until they are mentally and physically exhausted, investigators said. By the time victims pay, they are often no longer thinking clearly, and they have been told repeatedly not to tell family members about the money.

Authorities urged residents to check on older family members and friends and to learn the warning signs of a scam. The release also asked other law enforcement agencies to take scam complaints seriously, investigate them thoroughly and reach out to the task force for help.