Indian-American arrested in New Jersey in USD 13 million tech fraud

PTI

Washington, September 1

An Indian-American has been arrested in New Jersey on charges of being part of a technical support scam that targeted more than 7,000 victims defrauding them of more than USD 13 million, a US Attorney announced on Thursday.

Charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, Manoj Yadav appeared before US Magistrate Judge José R Almonte in Newark federal court.

"The defendant and his conspirators are alleged to have misled their numerous victims into thinking that they were a legitimate technology support company affiliated with a major software company," US Attorney Philip R Sellinger said.

After claiming to provide technical support for issues involving the software company's popular accounting software, they allegedly charged the victims exorbitant fees for purported support services that were not authorised by the software company, he alleged.

"We allege Yadav lied to software users and forced them to pay for services that would usually come free with their initial purchase," FBI Special Agent in Charge James E Dennehy said.

The count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of USD 2,50,000 or twice the gross profit or loss caused by the offence, whichever is greater.

"The amount he's accused of stealing from his victims and the number of victims seem shocking; however, we are seeing an incredible increase in all types of tech support scams. The fraudsters are pretty savvy in how they con money out of people, even those of us who think we're smart enough not to fall for it. If you think you're a victim, please reach out to the FBI,” Dennehy said.

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