Massive Tech Support Scam Generates $10M, Targets 20,000+, Including in NJ: Feds

Five men were charged in an indictment in connection with a transnational technical support scam that targeted more than 20,000 victims, many of whom were elderly, in the United States and Canada, federal prosecutors announced Friday.

Gagan Lamba, 41, and Harshad Madaan, 34, both of New Delhi, India; Jayant Bhatia, 33, of Ontario, Canada, and Vikash Gupta, 33, of Faridabad, India, are all charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit computer fraud, and substantive violations of wire fraud and computer fraud. 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 engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity. Bhatia has been charged with offenses related to his participation in a high-tech fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Phillip Sellinger said.

Attorney information for the accused was not immediately known.

The wire fraud and computer fraud charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years and a monetary fine. The money laundering charges carry a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine. The transacting in criminal proceeds charges carry a maximum of 10 years in prison as well as a monetary fine.

Additionally, a New Jersey woman -- Meghna Kumar, 50 and of Edison -- pleaded guilty on Dec. 14, by videoconference for her role in the scheme.

According to case documents, from around 2012 through November 2022, the accused and others were allegedly members of a fraud ring that operated a technical support scheme in the United States, India, and Canada, federal prosecutors said, adding that the fraudulent scheme targeted victims, including in New Jersey, many of whom were elderly.

Prosecutors allege that the primary goal of the scheme was to trick victims into believing their personal computers were infected with a virus or malware and then convince them to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to a phony computer repair service.

Allegedly, over the course of the approximate decade-long conspiracy, the ring generated more than $10 million from at least 20,000 victims.

“Scammers are changing tactics and finding new methods to steal hard-earned money from unsuspecting victims, but it boils down to the same well-worn crime,” FBI Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy said.

Prosecutors alleged that the fraud ring caused fake pop-up windows to appear on their victims’ personal computers, with some designed to “freeze” the victims’ computers -- preventing the victims from using or accessing files. The pop-ups also claimed, falsely, that the victims’ computers were infected with a virus, or otherwise compromised, and directed the victims to call a telephone number to receive technical support.

Victims who called the technical support phone numbers on the pop-ups were connected to one or more call centers in India allegedly associated with the ring. Prosecutors said that fraud ring members at the call centers falsely repeated that the victims’ computers were infected with viruses and offered to fix the issue for a price. The fraud ring members would then request permission to gain remote access to the computer. Once granted access, ring members would download and run a freely available adblocker tool, advising the victim that everything had been resolved. They would then leave a text file on the desktop of the computer with instructions for payment.

Victims were instructed to pay the fraud ring in amounts ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars by either electronically scanning checks made payable to one of several shell companies set up by the fraud ring, or by sending, via FedEx, physical checks to addresses maintained by Singh and Kumar in New Jersey.

“As alleged in the indictment, the defendants are charged with using access to personal computers to run a high-tech extortion scheme on a global scale,” Sellinger said. “They frequently preyed upon senior citizens and scared them 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.”