Jayesh Panchal and Vijaya Shetty

Jayesh Panchal and Vijaya Shetty were sentenced for their roles in an India-based “tech support” scheme that targeted elderly victims, stealing over $11 million. Panchal was sentenced to 78 months in prison and ordered to pay nearly $8 million in restitution to 40 victims, while Shetty received a 63-month sentence and ordered to pay $596,800.

In this “tech support” scheme, a pop-up message would appear on the victims’ computer screens warning the victims of a computer virus. The message also provided a telephone number to call for “tech support”. The predator that would answer the calls would use various ruses to trick the victim. One ruse involved telling victims that their bank accounts had been compromised and they needed to withdraw their money and give it to fake “federal agents” for safekeeping. Another ruse involved telling victims that they needed to pay for “tech support” services. The final ruse was to tell victims that they had been identified in a criminal investigation and needed to turn over money.

The “payments” were made by mailing cash, wire transfers, gift cards, and in-person couriers. In one instance, Panchal and a co-conspirator made six trips to collect $398,000 from a victim in Lake County, Michigan.