Indian American man pleads guilty to phone scam, looting $25K

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Indian American Mohammed Alam, 25, of Edison, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to theft of movable property for his involvement in an international phone scam which robbed 83 senior citizens of a total of $25,000.

Alam faces a sentence of probation and will have to pay the full $25,000 in restitution to his victims when he is sentenced March 8, according to a Bridgewater Courier News report.

According to a press release, Alam conspired with parties from a call center in India that used his Edison-based company, Infusion Micro, LLC, to accept payments from the unsuspecting victims.

The scam was initially uncovered by Detective Sgt. Aaron Wojtkowski of the Newbury, Massachusetts Police Department after a resident reported that she had been having issues with her computer and was contacted by someone on behalf of Microsoft, who said that they would fix the problem remotely in return for a fee, NJ.com reported.

An investigation found that residents were affected in Massachusetts, Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, between August 1, 2015 and January 1, 2018.

When Newbury police traced the payment to Infusion Micro, they informed the Edison Police Department.

Alam was arrested on June 12, 2018 and charged with theft by deception.