Grandma Scam Culprits Caught

Courthouse News Service reported that the San Diego DA’s office has helped take down an international fraud scheme that targeted seniors.

The suspected scammers — 20 in the U.S., 32 outside the country and five call centers based in India — used information gathered from data brokers to find and contact potential victims. They impersonated IRS or immigration officials and threatened unsuspecting citizens with jail time, fines or deportation unless their targets paid phony taxes or penalties.

One such scheme, coined the “Grandma Scam,” conned one San Diego woman out of $65,000. She was led to believe her grandson was in trouble internationally. Another elderly woman in the area lost nearly $12,000.

Dilipkumar “Don” Patel, an Indian national, is one of the suspected scammers whom the Department of Justice indicted. He was found to have laundered nearly $4.2 million in a year based on bank documents, computers and cell records found in his home.

Prosecutors have asked that other potential victims of the scam come forward.