The Pleasant Hill Police Department announced that following a three-year long investigation, funds stolen from a senior resident of Pleasant Hill have been recovered.
In March of 2022, a 70-year-old resident reported that she had been the victim of a crypto investment scam, which resulted in her losing $350,000. The scam had been perpetrated by an unknown individual posing as a male who approached the victim online. The suspect convinced the victim to invest her life savings in a cryptocurrency scheme.
Detective Stephen Vuong began tracking the cryptocurrency, and through extensive investigative efforts and with the assistance of the United States Secret Service, successfully located the majority of the victim’s funds in an online digital wallet. Detective Vuong monitored the wallet, which remained inactive until September 2025, over three years after the initial theft occurred. Once the wallet became active, Detective Vuong froze the funds and subsequently seized them.
The funds were transferred back to the victim and her family on 12/30/2025.
Police Chief Scott Vermillion said he was very happy with the outcome, and very proud of the efforts by Detective Vuong to recover the stolen funds.
“This is an excellent example of good policework yielding a very positive outcome,” he said. “We are happy to be able to return these funds to the victim, and I congratulate Detective Vuong on the outstanding work he put into this case.”
The Pleasant Hill Police Department reminds the community to be wary when approached online for services, and to always protect personal information. If you feel you have been the victim of a scam, contact the PHPD non-emergency line at (925) 288-4600.