LOS ANGELES — A San Gabriel Valley man was sentenced Wednesday to 10 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $102,550 in restitution for his attempt to obtain additional money from two elderly victims who had already paid thousands as part of an online phishing scheme that locked up their home computer.

Tai Su, 49, of West Covina pleaded guilty in January to one federal count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Su was arrested in a sting operation at the victims’ Encino home when he showed up to retrieve $35,000 from the two elderly victims who had already paid fraudsters $25,000 in cash. The scheme involved a computer virus, callers pretending to help, and two others who masqueraded as federal agents and used counterfeit credentials.

The cyberattack began in April 2024 when the victims opened an email and clicked on a link launching malware that seized their computer and displayed a phone number purportedly from “Microsoft Support.”

The victims called the number and spoke to a person who advised they had been “hacked,” and the hackers now had their bank account information at City National Bank, federal prosecutors said.

The victims were then connected to another person pretending to be a “fraud and risk investigator,” who instructed the victims to withdraw $25,000 in cash and give the money to purported “federal agents” who would come to the victims’ house, court papers show.

The victims withdrew the cash and two men pretending to be federal agents — one of whom displayed a fake badge — came to the house and collected the money, prosecutors said.

Over the next two days, the scammers continued to seek additional funds from the victims, even directing them to make a $10,000 withdrawal at a particular City National Bank branch, according to papers filed in Los Angeles federal court.

Homeland Security Investigations agents on April 25, 2024, learned about the ongoing scam and planned a sting operation.

The next day, during a series of phone calls with participants in the scheme, the victims agreed to make another $35,000 cash payment. After rebuffing demands to deposit the funds into a virtual wallet at a remote location, the victims arranged for another pick-up by a “federal officer” at their residence.

At the agreed-upon time, Su drove to the victims’ home. He identified himself to an 86-year-old victim, gave a passcode, and then said he was from Coinbase, a popular cryptocurrency platform. HSI agents then arrested Su, who was found to be carrying thousands of dollars in cash in large denominations, according to court papers.