MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A South Florida senior fell victim to a nearly six-figure tech support scam, but an undercover sting led to the arrest of a man from Florida’s Space Coast who came to her southwest Miami-Dade home to pick up cash, deputies said.
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Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Rushabh Anilbha Patel, 28, of Melbourne, on Thursday.
The Indian national faces charges of first-degree theft from an elderly person, organized scheme to defraud and unlawful use of a communications device.
According to an MDSO arrest report, the scam started with a Feb. 3 text message on the victim’s phone saying she “needed to call Apple Support because there were unknown charges on her account.”
“The victim believed the charges were real in fact and through the conversations with unknown subjects, the subjects advised the victim that they had found child pornography on her computer,” the report states. “The victim became scared and, in fear, began to send money.”
The report continues, “The victim was then instructed to electronically wire $35,000 via wire transfer. The victim was further instructed to withdraw $64,000 in U.S. currency from her bank accounts. The U.S. currency was then placed in boxes and picked up by unknown individuals at her residence on two separate occasions.”
MDSO investigators became aware of what happened on Monday.
Deputies said on Tuesday, “the unknown subjects contacted the victim to request an additional $75,000 via wire transfer.”
“The victim was then instructed to tell the unknown subjects that she couldn’t transfer the money but that she was in possession of $30,000 in U.S. currency,” the report states. “Multiple controlled phone calls with the subject and the victim were obtained. The unknown subject (who) identified as ‘Johnathan Byer,’ advised the victim he would send a courier the following day.”
Deputies said the pick-up was delayed until Thursday. They had a box “containing three bundles of fictitious money” — with three real $100 bills on top — ready to go.
The report states that detectives watched as Patel pulled up in a silver Toyota Corolla and circled the area, near Southwest 134th Court and 196th Street, with the woman on the phone with his co-scammers.
He eventually pulled up, deputies said, and honked his horn to summon the victim. They said he gave her an agreed-upon password: “RED786.”
The two exchanged money and Patel “immediately drove out of the area in a reckless and evasive manner,” the report states.
Cops caught up to him when he stopped at the Chevron at 13401 SW 184th St. They said after he drove away from the gas station, deputies pulled Patel over near Southwest 117th Avenue and took him into custody.
“During an inventory search of the vehicle for tow, detectives recovered the prepackaged box containing MDSO official allocated funds,” the report states.
Patel, in an interview, invoked his right to remain silent.
As of Friday, he was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $35,000 bond.
The report doesn’t state whether detectives have identified any other alleged participants in the $99,000 scam.