Indian American Man Arrested in New Jersey for $13 Million Tech Fraud That Affected Over 7,000 People
A US Attorney said on Thursday that an Indian American has been detained in New Jersey on suspicion of taking part in a technical assistance scam that defrauded over 7,000 victims out of more than USD 13 million. Manoj Yadav appeared before US Magistrate Judge Jos R. Almonte in Newark federal court on one count of conspiracy to conduct wire fraud.
According to US Attorney Philip R. Sellinger, “the defendant and his conspirators are accused of deceiving their numerous victims into believing that they were a legitimate technology support company connected to a major software company.” They reportedly charged the victims excessive fees for putative support services that were not permitted by the software firm after claiming to provide technical help for problems with the well-known accounting software of the software provider. FBI Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy said, “We say Yadav deceived software customers and forced them to pay for services that would typically be free with their original purchase.
The maximum sentence for a conviction on a count of conspiracy to conduct wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a fine of USD 2,50,000 or twice the gross profit or loss brought on by the crime, whichever is higher. “We are seeing an enormous rise in all forms of tech assistance frauds. The money he is suspected of taking from his victims and the number of victims appear alarming. Even those of us who believe we are intelligent enough to avoid falling for it are susceptible to the fraudsters’ cunning in how they trick people out of their money. Please contact the FBI if you believe you are a victim, Dennehy said.
Federal prosecutors claim that between 2017 and 2023, Yadav and his accomplices—many of whom were based in India—falsely presented themselves as a technology support company associated with a significant US business and accounting software company that created and sold a widely used accounting software product. Phebs Software Services, LLC, Phebs Software Services, PN Bookkeeping Services, Phebbs Consulting, Quickbooks Tech Assist, Quickbook US, Quickbooks Accounting, and Quickbooks Support Team were just a few of the false identities they used to do business.
According to court records, the conspirators would get in touch with victims pretending to be able to help them with accounting software technical problems. Under these false pretenses, the conspirators would provide tech assistance to the victims, who would then either be charged outrageous costs or further membership fees. All of these services were bogus; clients who dealt directly with the real software provider would not have to pay extra, and the latter never gave Yadav or his cronies permission to act on its behalf or collect any fees.
It was claimed that Yadav personally took part in the scheme by charging the victims for the false technology support services and transferring millions of dollars from these victims to his accomplices. It was also claimed that Yadav obtained these funds fraudulently through the Phebs Software Services, LLC, which he had founded. Both Phebs Software Services and Quickbooks Accounting were trade names used by the organization.
Yadav also misrepresented himself to banks and unsuspecting clients as an accounting firm that was in fact linked with the software business by using these corporate names. He took this action to avoid chargebacks, complaints to the Better Business Bureau, and account closures. It said that Yadav consistently retained around 17% of the money he sent to his collaborators while also sending them over USD 13 million in victim monies.
