NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A local man was scammed out of $420,000 by someone claiming to be a T-man online.

 

The scammer, who represented himself to the victim as "Sam Wilson, a U.S. Treasury agent," is still at large but one of his alleged conspirators was arrested by the FBI on Oct. 7. 

 

Urvishkumar Patel, 21, of South Boston, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in U.S. District Court in Springfield. Patel was allegedly acting as a courier in picking up packages of cash from the victim.  

 

The 75-year-old victim, who was not identified by name, was told by Wilson that his name had come up in an investigation. He was convinced to send Wilson his funds to "safeguard his money from being further implicated in the supposed money laundering scheme."

 

Victim 1, as described in court documents, received a popup message in June claiming his computer had frozen and given a phone number to call, which he thought was Microsoft.

 

He called, was told his computer could not be fixed and transferred to Wilson. The scammer identified himself as a Treasury agent and then ran down a list of addresses until Victim 1 noted his correct one. 

 

Based on his name and address, Wilson then told the victim that his name was involved in house purchases in the United States and Russia that could be part of a money-laundering scheme. 

 

The victim was told he could send money from his account to the Treasury for safekeeping in a lockbox until he could be cleared by a judge.

 

Wilson told the victim how to get around his bank's safeguards by pulling smaller amounts of cash out over time. He was told to place the cash in a box, tape it and write his name and address on the box. A courier would drive to his house and provide a PIN or passcode as confirmation.

 

"Specifically, from in or around June 2024 through in or around September 2024, Victim 1 provided money to several individuals he believed to be associated with WILSON on approximately five separate occasions," according to court documents. 

 

The victim's sister contacted the FBI on Oct. 1 and agents arranged for the victim to contact Wilson to pick up $33,000 on Oct. 7. 

 

An undercover agent posed as the victim to deliver the box; Patel was arrested shortly after in a traffic stop.  

 

Authorities say Patel admitted picking up the packages, first saying he had been blackmailed and then that he had been paid to pick up packages for weeks. 

 

"PATEL told agents that he opened the first package he received and saw that it contained cash. He stated that he believed his activity was not lawful but continued to collect packages," according to court documents.

 

Patel was released with conditions and is due back in court on Oct. 29. 

 

Note: There were a lot of red flags in this case — a bait and switch, impersonating a person of authority, requesting personal information, asking for cash, the use of couriers, and directions on how to avoid bank scrutiny. Microsoft will not contact you through a pop-up on your computer and will not forward you to a federal agent; legitimate agencies will not ask for cash or gift cards. Always make sure you know who you are dealing with by requesting a name and contact information, going directly to the source (the government agency or organization) to confirm, or contacting your bank or someone you trust. 

 

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a list of common scams here and how to report them.