CA CA - Nai Ping Hou, 74, Rancho Cucamonga, reported 4 May 2025

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TwinkieDefense

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  • #1
July 10, 2025 article - indicates detectives are seeking information re a silver Toyota Yaris.

www.vvng.com

Authorities Release New Details in Rancho Cucamonga Man’s Disappearance, Urge Public Help - Victor Valley News

Detectives release new details in hopes of generating leads in the disappearance of Rancho Cucamonga resident Nai Ping Hou, including fraud and phone impersonation. Read more at vvng.com #vvng #news #ranchocucamonga
www.vvng.com www.vvng.com

[…]

According to a written statement from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, investigators have discovered “extensive fraudulent transactions” involving Mr. Hou’s bank accounts around the time of his disappearance.

[…]
 
  • #2
TwinkieDefense said:
July 10, 2025 article - indicates detectives are seeking information re a silver Toyota Yaris.

www.vvng.com

Authorities Release New Details in Rancho Cucamonga Man’s Disappearance, Urge Public Help - Victor Valley News

Detectives release new details in hopes of generating leads in the disappearance of Rancho Cucamonga resident Nai Ping Hou, including fraud and phone impersonation. Read more at vvng.com #vvng #news #ranchocucamonga
www.vvng.com www.vvng.com

[…]

According to a written statement from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, investigators have discovered “extensive fraudulent transactions” involving Mr. Hou’s bank accounts around the time of his disappearance.

[…]
Click to expand...

This is a crazy one! I wonder if they saw a Toyota Yaris on surveillance video at his home or how that factors in to his disappearance?
 
  • #3
  • #4
abc7.com

Detectives investigating disappearance of 74-year-old Rancho Cucamonga man as possible kidnapping

The man's family is offering a $250,000 reward for his safe return. They believe his kidnapping may be tied to the family's success in cryptocurrency.
abc7.com abc7.com

Home - Find Naiping Hou

$250,000 REWARD! Missing Person | Rancho Cucamonga, CA NAME: Naiping HouAGE: 74HEIGHT: 5′ 7″WEIGHT: 170 lbsHAIR COLOR: Grey (possibly dyed brown or black)EYE COLOR: Dark brownPHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: Birthmark on his left upper shoulder. Surgery scar on his lower back. Case Overview Naiping Hou...
findnaipinghou.com findnaipinghou.com

Naiping Hou, an elderly Chinese man, disappeared in March 2025 after a fishing trip with his family. Since then, his house has been found empty and at least a million dollars has been stolen from his bank accounts. His family believes he might have been kidnapped, and are offering a reward as they search for answers. See links above.
I hope Naiping can be found safely, but it doesn't really look good. Hopefully money is all the thieves wanted, and they'll let him go at some point? But it's been over 3 months.
 
  • #5
This case is very strange. I would think that if this was a kidnapping, the perpetrators would have contacted the son for ransom money. I also was surprised that the father’s home was described as being empty. I can’t imagine that a kidnapper or group of kidnappers would have brought a moving truck and moved out the contents of the house. This case reminds me of the recent case of Peishuan Fan and his wife who disappeared.
 
  • #6
Incredible, but knowing how financial fraud works, this must have been carefully planned over months.
Neighbours must have seen a removal truck, or was the house emptied on purpose before the renovation?

ETA Family has set up this website

Home - Find Naiping Hou

$250,000 REWARD! Missing Person | Rancho Cucamonga, CA NAME: Naiping HouAGE: 74HEIGHT: 5′ 7″WEIGHT: 170 lbsHAIR COLOR: Grey (possibly dyed brown or black)EYE COLOR: Dark brownPHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: Birthmark on his left upper shoulder. Surgery scar on his lower back. Case Overview Naiping Hou...
findnaipinghou.com findnaipinghou.com
 
  • #7
Poor man and his family. This looks like a sophisticated and terrible crime.

It's good to know that banks just allow such huge sums of money to be wired around without real fraud safeguards in place. (Sarcasm).

I get that if there were people who abducted him and gained access to his phone, electronics, and his home, they were savvy, ruthless, and knew what they were doing but you have to wonder how this is possible. How did they do it undetected? I guess I'm naive.
 
  • #8
From the above family website:

Naiping Hou is a 74-year-old male Chinese living in Rancho Cucamonga, California. He was last seen on March 18, 2025.

Law enforcement went to Naiping’s residence on May 4, 2025, to check on Naiping’s welfare.

Naiping was not located and evidence indicated Naiping may have been kidnapped. There has been unexplained and suspicious activity with Naiping’s financial accounts and property; Draining of his accounts, unauthorized sales of his vehicles, gifting of items and the attempted renting of his home.

Evidence suggests that individuals connected to the crime may have ties to both the Los Angeles area and the Inland Empire, although investigators are exploring all leads. The suspects are believed to be using sophisticated and deceptive tactics and are considered highly dangerous.
 
  • #9
truthfinder2019 said:
From the above family website:

Naiping Hou is a 74-year-old male Chinese living in Rancho Cucamonga, California. He was last seen on March 18, 2025.

Law enforcement went to Naiping’s residence on May 4, 2025, to check on Naiping’s welfare.

Naiping was not located and evidence indicated Naiping may have been kidnapped. There has been unexplained and suspicious activity with Naiping’s financial accounts and property; Draining of his accounts, unauthorized sales of his vehicles, gifting of items and the attempted renting of his home.

Evidence suggests that individuals connected to the crime may have ties to both the Los Angeles area and the Inland Empire, although investigators are exploring all leads. The suspects are believed to be using sophisticated and deceptive tactics and are considered highly dangerous.
Click to expand...
Dang! 😳

I wonder why it took so long to report him missing - from March 18 to May 4? Were there any actual phone calls? If so, could someone imitate the missing man well enough to fool the other person, maybe with the use of AI? It would seem the texts would be a bit easier to tell they were false after a few. Quite mysterious.
 
Last edited:
  • #10
Am I missing why they are 100% confident (suspicious) it’s a kidnapping and not his own doing?
 
  • #11
  • #12
"Criminals go to where the money is, and we're seeing a huge rise in the price of bitcoin," Redbord said. "Before, you needed sophisticated cyber capabilities to hack someone, but now you can be a violent criminal who can beat [the password] out of someone."

www.cbsnews.com

Crypto kidnappings on the rise as criminals resort to "wrench attacks"

A rash of attacks on cryptocurrency owners is combining cybercrime with old-fashioned thuggery, experts say.
www.cbsnews.com www.cbsnews.com
 
  • #13
My question is: how did the criminals know he had that amount of money on his BA and that he would be alone at home ?
This type of financial crime needs quite some preparation and usually is perpetraded by an organised group of people, who are also tech-savy, so they wouldn’t have chosen anyone. He was targeted, he must have been observed for weeks and they probably knew also that he was alone at home.
 
  • #14
  • #15
www.usatoday.com

A California man was last seen in March. His family says he was likely kidnapped.

The day Naiping Hou's famly reported him missing, investigators searched his home to no avail. His family said evidence showed he may have been kidnapped.
www.usatoday.com

July 21 article

Investigators confirmed this week that they are investigating the case as a kidnapping.

They also said they are looking for information about a silver Toyota Yaris in connection to his disappearance.

…

His family added that based on evidence found, those connected to his alleged kidnapping may have ties to Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, a metro area east of Los Angeles County, centered around Riverside and San Bernardino.
 
  • #16
TwinkieDefense said:
Dang! 😳

I wonder why it took so long to report him missing - from March 18 to May 4? Were there any actual phone calls? If so, could someone imitate the missing man well enough to fool the other person, maybe with the use of AI? It would seem the texts would be a bit easier to tell they were false after a few. Quite mysterious.
Click to expand...
www.usatoday.com

A California man was last seen in March. His family says he was likely kidnapped.

The day Naiping Hou's famly reported him missing, investigators searched his home to no avail. His family said evidence showed he may have been kidnapped.
www.usatoday.com

When asked why it took so long to report Hou missing, the sheriff's department said Hou's wife and son were out of the country. The family was communicating with who they thought was their husband and father via text messaging, the sheriff's department told USA TODAY on July 21.

“It took six weeks to discover my father was missing and the reason why it took so long is because whoever took him used his phone to impersonate him,” his son said. “They drained about $1 million from my dad's bank account. That was all his retirement savings. We're very devastated and we're deeply concerned for his safety."
 
  • #17
July 16, 2025 article

iecn.com

Missing Grandfather: Naiping Hou, 74, Kidnapped from Rancho Cucamonga Home Amid Rise in Crypto-Targeted Crimes

Authorities investigate the suspected kidnapping of Naiping Hou, 74, of Rancho Cucamonga; $250K reward offered for information.
iecn.com iecn.com

[…]

Naiping’s disappearance occurred while his wife was abroad visiting relatives in China. Following his last known sighting, his family began receiving only text messages from Naiping — no voice calls. Over time, the language, tone, and grammar of those texts began to feel suspiciously unlike his father, prompting concern that someone else might be using his phone.

[…]
 
  • #18
The younger Hou told The Los Angeles Times that his father had become oddly detached on a family group chat since March, but that concerns over his father’s wellbeing came to a head on his birthday on May 3. Naiping Hou had been invited to spend his birthday at his son’s Las Vegas residence, but he declined. After his son sent him a birthday gift of handmade Chinese noodles, whoever was controlling the phone did not answer any calls.

Instead of thanks for the gift, as they expected, a text message was sent reading simply: “Yes I receive it.”

www.independent.co.uk

Dad of crypto king mysteriously vanished in LA sparking family concern

Naiping Hou, 74, of Rancho Cucamonga, California was last seen on March 18
www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk

The next morning, the family went to his home and found the noodle package still on the stoop. Inside, they said the furniture was missing and it appeared a new paint job had been done. The cars were missing from the garage, as well.

Naiping Hou wife was in China at the time. She also received a strange text message from her husband that told her to cancel her flight home and he would join her in Asia.
 
  • #19
With every bit of news that comes out, It’s hard for me to fathom how well planned this series of events must have been for quite some time.
 
  • #20
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