Tech Support Scam Mastermind Sentenced to 7 Years for $6 Million Fraud

In the Southern District of New York, the trial of Vinoth Ponmaran, the orchestrator of a large-scale technical support fraud scheme, has concluded. He was sentenced to seven years in prison for defrauding more than 6,500 people in the United States and Canada. Through social engineering and technical tricks, the criminal group he led stole over $6 million.

The fraud scheme was meticulously planned and primarily targeted elderly individuals, the most vulnerable category of computer users. It operated as follows: victims’ computer screens displayed pop-up windows claiming that their devices were infected with a virus. The windows urged them to call a specified number for technical support. In some instances, victims were threatened that restarting or shutting down their computers could cause severe system damage and complete data loss. To lend an air of legitimacy, some pop-up windows used logos of well-known technology companies without permission. In reality, there were no viruses on the victims’ computers, and the technical support numbers provided were not associated with legitimate companies.

Falling for the scam, victims paid for repairs, which involved granting remote access to their computers and running a free antivirus tool available online. Thus, victims were coerced into paying for non-existent services.

Ponmaran played a crucial role in this criminal scheme. He managed a call center in India that provided victims with fictitious technical support services. He also recruited accomplices in the United States to register fictitious corporations and open bank accounts where the victims’ money was deposited. Additionally, Ponmaran laundered the proceeds by transferring them to accounts in India and the United States.

In addition to the prison sentence, 36-year-old Ponmaran, an Indian national, is required to pay over $6 million in restitution.

Ponmaran’s accomplices, Romana Leyva, and Ariful Haque, were convicted in 2022 after pleading guilty. Leyva received a 100-month prison sentence. The court ordered her to return more than $4.5 million obtained from criminal activities and to pay over $2.7 million in restitution. Haque was sentenced to one year and one day in prison. The court also ordered him to return over $38,000 and pay more than $470,000 in restitution.

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