The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office says two New Jersey brothers scammed four senior women out of nearly $400,000, through schemes that often began with pop-ups on the seniors’ computers.
Authorities said Monday the two men pretended to be government agents or bank representatives, telling the women — who ranged in age from 76 to 90 years old — that their bank accounts were compromised and they needed to withdraw all of their money immediately.
The men — 31-year-old Abhishek Barvalia and 32-year-old Tushar Barvalia, both residents of Rutherford — are charged with grand larceny and conspiracy. They both pleaded not guilty at an arraignment Monday. The victims were from Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens and Connecticut, according to prosecutors.
The Brooklyn DA’s office said that in June 2023, an 83-year-old woman wired $15,000 to a bank account owned by the brothers after she received a phone call from someone pretending to be a bank representative.
Early in July 2023, a 78-year-old woman received a notification on her computer claiming it was infected with malware, and urging her to call a number that purported to be for Microsoft, the DA’s office said. The woman was transferred to someone pretending to be a representative from the Federal Trade Commission, warning her that she should send her savings to the federal government for safekeeping, the DA’s office said. She sent the men $70,000 via two cashier’s checks, prosecutors said.
The pair also are accused of stealing $136,224 from a 90-year-old woman in December 2023. The DA’s office said the woman received a pop-up notification on her computer screen warning her of an “Apple Security Risk,” and began speaking with someone claiming to be a government agent who told her that her bank accounts were being hacked and used to store money related to illicit activity including child pornography. Prosecutors said the brothers convinced her to sent the money over the course of the next two weeks.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office said later in December, a fourth victim — a 76-year-old woman — received a notification on her screen urging her to call a number. When she did, she spoke t o someone claiming to be an FBI agent who told her that her savings were being used by hackers to sell drugs, guns and launder money, according to prosecutors. They told her that she should protect her savings by transferring money to accounts controller by the government. Prosecutors say she withdrew $171,680 in three cashier’s checks and mailed them to the scammers..
The man are next scheduled to appear in court Oct. 22. Attorney information was not made immediately available to Gothamist.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez called the scheme “despicable.”
“These defendants allegedly targeted some of the most vulnerable members of our communities to steal the nest eggs they had carefully built up over many years,” he said in a press release.
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