DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — A Highlands Ranch woman was scammed out of $120,000 in gold bars after a popup appeared on her computer last July warning her about a possible virus.
That popup, according to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, prompted the 79-year-old woman to call an 888 number — which connected her with the suspect.
"The suspect identified himself as a federal agent and told her that her personal bank accounts had been compromised," Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said.
The man instructed her to purchase two gold bars — valued at $60,000 each — and have them shipped to her home. He also told her not to contact law enforcement.
About a week later, Weekly said the man contacted her again and told her to meet an undercover federal agent with the two gold bars at a Littleton convenience store.
She was then told to go to another intersection and give the bars to the person in the vehicle. The suspect told her she would be reimbursed by check after handing the gold bars over.
"The driver did not say anything during the interaction," Weekly said. "He just rolled down the window halfway to accept the gold bars."
When the man tried to get additional financial information, the victim called her bank and was told it was fraud and that she needed to end the contact immediately. That is when she contacted the sheriff's office.
These types of fraud cases are typically very complex and the arrest rate is only about 1%, according to Weekly. In this instance, an arrest was made after a monthslong investigation. That came in part because the woman had written down the suspect's license plate.
"There were a lot of dead ends during the seven-month investigation, but [the detective] did not give up," Weekly said. "Through cell phone records, credit card records, surveillance cameras, and good old fashioned detective work, he was able to track down the suspect."
He's been identified as 26-year-old Sagar Patel, of New Jersey. He's since been extradited to Colorado to face felony theft charges. The gold bars have not been recovered.
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Investigators used the woman's story to highlight just how common scams like this are. They noted that scammers tend to target the elderly and other vulnerable people and will prey on people's emotions to get them to act.
Parker's police chief said over the past six months, residents there have been scammed out of $800,000 in cryptocurrency scams.
"In a recent example, we had a 79-year-old who was called and told she missed jury duty," said Chief James Tsurapas. "Being afraid of getting into trouble, they convinced her to deposit $10,000 into their account at a cryptocurrency kiosk."
Signs of a scam can include:
- High-pressure tactics
- Promises of guaranteed returns
- Unsolicited cryptocurrency payment requests
No matter how urgent a request may seem, Tsurapas said it's important to take a step back and make attempts to verify the information.
"It's disheartening to witness individuals, particularly our elderly population, being targeted by these scammers who will exploit emergencies involving their families as well as situations of their targeted victims," he said. "These heartless perpetrators manipulate emotions and urgency to coerce their victims into sending cryptocurrency as a form of payment."
If you get a call or other type of message, investigators suggest taking a minute to think about what you're being asked to do, and then calling someone such as law enforcement or a family member.
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