Man charged in $70K identity theft scam against Belleville woman

A federal grand jury in East St. Louis has indicted a man on charges of posing as a federal agent in an attempt to defraud a 76-year-old Belleville woman out of about $70,000 in an identify theft scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Friday.

Zhigan Lian, 42, a citizen of China and a lawful permanent resident of the United States living in California, was indicted Tuesday on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud, according to court records and a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Lian is accused of posing as a federal agent and picking up what he thought was $45,000 from the victim on July 1 at a Belleville fast-food restaurant.

The victim had previously contacted Illinois State Police about being a scam victim, and authorities were on the scene and were able to arrest Liam after the victim made an exchange with him on July 1.

“Federal authorities will never call to demand your personal or financial information over the phone, notify you that you’re a victim of identity theft, ask you to send cryptocurrency or travel to your home to pick up money,” said U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft in a news release.

While the alleged scam operators tried to get a total of about $70,000 from the victim, she did lose about $29,000 before the police began investigating, according to court records.

Lian is being represented by Alton attorney John D. Stobbs II, who could not be reached for comment Friday.

The prosecution and court records outline the allegations that led up to Lian’s arrest:

▪ On June 13, the victim received a “scam text” purporting to be from Apple, regarding an Apple Pay charge of $258.54. The victim called a phone number provided on the text because she did not use Apple Pay. The person who answered directed the victim to call another number that purportedly was the Federal Trade Commission, saying there was a “severe” problem with her account.

▪ The purported Federal Trade Commission official told the victim she had fallen prey to identity theft and “needed to withdraw all the money from their bank accounts to protect their assets.”

▪ The victim received an email purportedly from the Federal Trade Commission stating that she was a victim of identity theft.

▪ The victim was directed to place $4,900 in a Bitcoin machine in downtown St. Louis and she complied.

▪ On June 17, the victim withdrew $25,000 from a bank account. This money was in one bundle of $5,000 and two bundles of $10,000 each. Later that day, she gave the money to a federal “agent” who had come to her home. The victim had been told that the federal government would “safeguard” her money and that she would get it all back plus 30%.

▪ On June 26, the purported Federal Trade Commission official told the victim to withdraw $45,000 in cash from her bank account. To come up with this amount, she sold stock from an investment account.

Also on that day, the victim talked to agents with Illinois State Police and told them she was the victim of a scam.

▪ When the victim was directed to meet with an “agent” at a fast-food restaurant on July 1 in Belleville, law enforcement officers were monitoring the exchange and arrested Liam after he received what he thought was $45,000 from the victim.

This story was originally published July 18, 2025 at 7:52 PM.