2 Biz Execs Plead Guilty To Tech Support Fraud Scheme In Rhode Island: Feds

PROVIDENCE, RI — A Miami man and a Las Vegas man pleaded guilty to charges stemming from their operation of a business that provided services to customers engaged in widespread telemarketing and tech-support fraud schemes targeting victims throughout the United States and abroad, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Former CEO Adam Young, 42, of Miami, and former CSO Harrison Gevirtz, 33, of Las Vegas, pleaded to operating a business that provided telecommunications-related services, including telephone numbers, call routing services, call tracking, and call forwarding services, to customers they knew were engaged in tech-support fraud schemes, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a media release.

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Young and Gevirtz each pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony, in violation of federal law, according to the release.
"Young and Gevirtz pleaded guilty after an investigation beginning in 2020 that led to the conviction of five India-based telemarketing fraudsters and a former employee of their call routing company," the release said.

"Indian citizens Sahil Narang, Chirag Sachdeva, Abrar Anjum and Manish Kumar, were convicted of charges related to telemarketing fraud schemes based in the Republic of India that targeted and defrauded Americans of millions of dollars, many of them vulnerable to fraud schemes due to age or infirmity," according to the release. "The investigation also contributed to the conviction of another individual, Jagmeet Singh Virk, in the U.S. District Court for the Norther District of California."

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From about 2016 through 2022, Young, Gevirtz and others knew that some of their customers were engaged in tech-support fraud schemes, the release said.

"The schemes used deceptive pop-up messages to convince computer users that their computer had been infected with viruses or malware," the release said. "Victims were directed to call a phone number on the pop-up message or advertisement, which connected the victims to call centers, where they were persuaded to pay hundreds of dollars for unnecessary or fictitious technical-support services. In some instances, call center agents remotely accessed victims’ computers and obtained personal and financial information."

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Young and Gevirtz failed to report the schemes to the law, per the release, despite receiving numerous complaints and inquiries from telephone providers and law enforcement regarding customers engaged in tech-support fraud.

"Young and Gevirtz themselves owned and operated a call center in Tunisia from 2016 through April 2022 where some employees engaged in tech-support fraud," the release said.

"What the CEO and CSO of this well-known call tracking and analytics company did was downright despicable," Ted E. Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, said in the release.

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"By their own admission, they willfully profited from telemarketing and tech support scammers, here and abroad, who preyed on the elderly, exploited the vulnerable, and drained victims of their life savings and peace of mind," Docks said. "Behind every fraudulent call was a real person left frightened, humiliated, or financially shattered. Tech support scams cost Americans $2.1 billion last year, and Rhode Islanders reported losing at least $5.7 million."

Young and Gevirtz are scheduled to be sentenced June 16.

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