Feds: Warren woman victim of gold bullion scam

Two people residing in New Jersey have been charged in connection with a gold bullion scam targeting a 77-year-old woman in Warren.

According to an indictment Anil Mangukia along with Yash Navdiya, who are citizens of the Republic of India currently residing in New Jersey as Green Card holders are accused of scamming a woman via a "phantom hacker scam."

According to an affidavit, the scam began on January 12 when the woman received an email regarding an unauthorized PayPal transaction and a number to dispute it.

The affidavit states that the woman called this number and spoke to a scammer who emailed her a form to request a refund. She was instructed to enter $100, but the form changed it to $100,000 and the scammer told the woman she was refunded more than she was entitled to.

According to the affidavit, the woman was then directed to call a scammer posing as a Huntington Bank representative, who told her if she was to pay the funds back, she would have to pay taxes on them and was directed to call another scammer posing as a PayPal representative.

From there, the woman was told to wire $100,000 to a coin dealer for gold coins that would be used to reimburse PayPal. She was told not to tell anyone about the matter.

According to the affidavit, the woman complied with this request and picked up approximately $97,425 in gold coins, which she gave to an unnamed male who showed up at her home 

The next day, the woman was instructed to once again fill out the form to process a refund, this time being told to enter $300, which the website changed to $30,000.

She was then told to withdraw $15,000 from her bank account, which she complied with.

From there, she received several phone calls from a scammer posing as a Federal Trade Commission employee to verify personal information like addresses and credit card numbers.

She was also told to withdraw funds from her retirement and investment accounts. According to the affidavit, she refused to withdraw from the investment account but did withdraw from the retirement account.

She was told to open a bank account and wire the retirement fund to a bullion company in Nevada to purchase gold bars. That's when the FBI got involved.

According to the affidavit, a fictitious order was placed to the bullion company on the woman's behalf. The gold bars arrived the next day and pictures were sent to the scammers, who told the woman an undercover agent was coming to pick up the gold.

Law enforcement patrolled the area and observed the woman giving the scammer the gold bars. From there, they followed and stopped the scammer's vehicle.

Agents interviewed the scammer and learned they were offered $2,500 to pick up the package and drop it off in Macedonia. From there, agents were able to find and detain the other two scammers.

Mangukia and Navdiya are charged with Money Laundering Conspiracy and Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud.

 According to a press release, situations like this are becoming more and more common, especially among elderly citizens. If you or anyone you know is a victim of a scam like this one, you can call 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).