GOODYEAR, AZ — A 28-year-old man has been arrested on money laundering charges in connection with an elaborate scam that defrauded an elderly Goodyear woman out of $1.5 million over six months.
The scheme began in June when the victim was having trouble with closed captioning on her Roku television and searched online for a customer service number to call for help. Unfortunately, the number she found was not legitimate.
The person who answered identified himself as "John" and told her that her Roku account was being used by five different people in five different states. He then transferred her to someone claiming to be "Kevin" from the Federal Trade Commission.
The scam initially started with $200 and a program that the fraudsters convinced the woman to install on her computer. This software gave the criminals access to her personal information, which they used to steal money from her accounts.
The scammers escalated their tactics by "scaring the victim into believing that she would be audited by the IRS, that she would potentially be arrested," according to police.
Over the course of more than six months, the woman was convinced to make eight separate purchases of gold, with each transaction averaging $200,000. After purchasing gold or withdrawing cash, she would photograph the items and meet couriers at designated locations to hand them over.
The scammers told her these payments were necessary to resolve supposed issues with the IRS.
"The scare tactics like, you're being audited by the IRS. Let's help you. Let's get you out, and they're gonna arrest you, and you know, and then they put that urgency in...you need to do this," police explained.
The woman's husband eventually became aware of the withdrawals from their bank accounts, leading her to realize she had fallen victim to what's known as a "pig butchering" scam.
Police arrested Rashedul Islam Mohammod in connection with the case. The suspect's bond has been set at $500,000 cash. Goodyear police say their investigation is ongoing as they continue to see an uptick in similar scams targeting elderly residents.
Police are urging residents to be cautious when searching for customer service numbers online. They recommend always verifying that contact information comes from official company websites rather than relying on top search results.
"A lot of times it'll start on one device, and then they move you to secondary communication — that right there should be the first red flag," said Goodyear Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Mayra Reeson.
"The FBI or the IRS or the local police department is not going to ask you to go to a different app to communicate with them," authorities warned.
Police advise that "the moment that something doesn't seem right, stop, slow down, and maybe ask someone for assistance with it."
Officials hope sharing this case will prevent others from losing millions to similar schemes.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
