What to know
- Five men are charged in connection with a multimillion-dollar transnational tech support scam that claims more than 20,000 victims, many of them elderly, in the United States and Canada, federal prosecutors announced Friday.
- Additionally, a New Jersey woman pleaded guilty on Dec. 14 via video conference call to her role in the fraud ring.
- Over the course of the roughly decade-long conspiracy, the network allegedly generated more than $10 million from at least 20,000 victims.
NEW JERSEY — Five men are charged in connection with a multimillion-dollar transnational tech support scam that claims more than 20,000 victims, many of them elderly, in the United States and Canada, federal prosecutors announced Friday.
Gagan Lamba, 41, and Harshad Madaan, 34, both from New Delhi, India; Jayant Bhatia, 33, of Ontario, Canada, and Vikash Gupta, 33, of Faridabad, India, are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit computer fraud, and substantial wire and computer fraud violations. Lamba, Madaan, Bhatia and a fifth defendant, Kulwinder Singh, 34, of Richmond Hill, New York, are also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering and participation in monetary transactions on property derived from specific illegal activities. Bhatia has been charged with crimes related to his involvement in a high-tech fraud scheme, New Jersey District Attorney Phillip Sellinger said.
Information for the defendants’ attorney was not immediately available.
Wire fraud and computer fraud charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years and a monetary fine. The money laundering charges carry a legal maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine. Transactions with criminal proceeds charges carry a maximum of 10 years in prison, as well as a fine.
Also, a New Jersey woman, Meghna Kumar, 50, of Edison, pleaded guilty Dec. 14 via video conference call to her role in the fraud ring.
According to case documents, from about 2012 to November 2022, the defendants and others were allegedly members of a fraud ring that operated a tech support program in the United States, India and Canada, federal prosecutors said, adding that the fraud targeted the victims. , also in New Jersey, many of whom were elderly.
Prosecutors say the main goal of the fraud was to trick victims into believing their personal computers were infected with a virus or malware, and then get them to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to a bogus computer repair service .
Over the course of the roughly decade-long conspiracy, the network allegedly generated more than $10 million from at least 20,000 victims.
“Con artists are changing tactics and finding new ways to steal hard-earned cash from unsuspecting victims, but it all boils down to the same old crime,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy.
Prosecutors say the fraud ring caused fake pop-up screens to appear on its victims’ personal computers, with some designed to “freeze” victims’ computers, preventing victims from using or accessing files. The pop-ups also falsely claimed that victims’ computers were infected with a virus or otherwise compromised, and asked them to call a technical support telephone number.
Victims who called these tech support phone numbers were linked to one or more call centers in India allegedly associated with the ring. Prosecutors said members of the call center fraud ring falsely repeated that the victims’ computers were infected with viruses and offered to fix the problem for a fee. Members of the fraud ring would then request permission to gain remote access to the computer. Once access was granted, members of the network downloaded and ran a freely available ad-blocking tool, informing the victim that everything was fixed. They would then leave a text file on their computer desktop with payment instructions.
Victims were instructed to pay the fraud ring hundreds to thousands of dollars by electronically scanning checks made payable to one of the many fictitious companies created by the fraud ring or by sending physical checks via FedEx to addresses operated by Singh and Kumar in New Jersey.
“As stated in the indictment, the defendants are accused of using access to personal computers to execute a high-tech extortion scheme on a global scale,” Sellinger said. “The elderly have often been exploited and scared into paying for unnecessary and useless computer repair services. Working with our partners here and abroad, we will remain vigilant in protecting our citizens from these kinds of schemes.”
