Sixth person convicted of nationwide fraud

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A Florida man is the latest person to be sentenced in a scam that federal prosecutors say made $11 million by targeting seniors across the country, including in Michigan.

Everett Tiebout, 32, of Tampa, was sentenced to 14 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.

Federal authorities say the group Tiebout was part of committed a scam that began when victims received pop-up messages saying their computers had a virus. When they called the number mentioned in the messages, they were approached by people claiming to be from a reputed company, but in fact they were scammers in India. The scammers put forward different stories to intimidate victims into giving them money, sometimes saying that victims needed to pay for technical support for the fake virus. In other cases, they said victims’ bank accounts had been compromised and they should take all their money. Sometimes they would say that the victim had been named in the crime and needed to pay to have the charges dropped. Victims were told to meet in person to give money to so-called federal agents, who were actually more scammers, or to give money to the scammers through bank transfers or gift cards.

Authorities say 50 people across the country, most of them elderly, have been victims of the scam.

Five other defendants, who investigators say collected money from victims, were previously sentencedincluding a New York man who authorities say received nearly $400,000 from a Lake County, Michigan woman, and Flint woman.

Two convicted of $11 million fraud

Authorities say they are still searching for a seventh suspect: Pragneshbhai M. Patel of Amityville, New York. A warrant for his arrest was issued last year.

“The victims in this case suffered anxiety, fear, humiliation and devastating financial loss,” U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said Thursday. “The defendants acted ruthlessly in preying on the elderly, often re-victimizing their victims. They didn’t care that they were stealing from vulnerable elderly people; all they cared about was making money. In this case and beyond, we are committed to bringing scammers to justice, especially when they target vulnerable members of our communities.”

FBI Elder Fraud Website contains information on how to identify and avoid fraud. If you or someone you know has been the victim of a scam, call the Senior Fraud Hotline at 1.833.FRAUD.11 (372.8311) between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

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