Ringba CEO Adam Young and CSO Harrison Gevirtz have been convicted. Messrs Young and Gevirtz 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.
Messrs Young, 42, and Gevirtz, 33, admitted 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, according to a statement by the U.S. justice department.
Messrs Young and Gevirtz each pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony, in violation of federal law. They are scheduled to be sentenced on June 16.
The duo 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. Indian citizens Sahil Narang, Chirag Sachdeva, Abrar Anjum and Manish Kumar were convicted of charges related to telemarketing fraud schemes based in India that targeted and defrauded Americans of millions of dollars, many of whom were vulnerable to fraud schemes due to age or infirmity.
The investigation also contributed to the conviction of another individual, Jagmeet Singh Virk, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The investigation further revealed that call centres based in India utilised Messrs Young and Gevirtz’s business to route their “tech fraud” scheme calls and, in some instances, advised those fraudsters on methods intended to reduce complaints and prevent account terminations.
According to court documents, from around 2016 through 2022 the duo and others knew that some of their customers were engaged in tech-support fraud schemes. The schemes used deceptive pop-up messages to convince computer users that their computers had been infected with viruses or malware.
Victims were directed to call a phone number on the pop-up message or advertisement, which connected them to call centres 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.
From 2017 through April 2022, after learning of their customers’ fraud schemes, Messrs Young and Gevirtz failed to report the schemes to law enforcement officials.
According to statements filed with the court, the defendants received numerous complaints and inquiries from telephone providers and law enforcement concerning customers engaged in tech-support fraud.
Despite that knowledge, they advised some of their customers about techniques the customers could use to avoid complaints by fraud victims and prevent account termination. Young and Gevirtz assisted some of those customers to buy and sell fraud calls amongst themselves.
Messrs Young and Gevirtz themselves owned and operated a call centre in Tunisia from 2016 through April 2022 where some employees engaged in tech-support fraud.
“What the CEO and CSO of this well-known call tracking and analytics company did was downright despicable. 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. Behind every fraudulent call was a real person left frightened, humiliated, or financially shattered,” said Ted Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Division.
Mr Docks said, “Tech support scams cost Americans $2.1 billion last year, and Rhode Islanders reported losing at least $5.7 million. Let this be a warning: if you fuel and support these criminal networks that prey on unsuspecting consumers, the FBI will pursue you relentlessly to ensure you’re held accountable for the harm you helped inflict.”
Court documents further showed that the defendants directed employees to promote their company’s services to customers engaged in tech-support fraud and, at times, introduced customers involved in the fraudulent activity to others who could support their fraudulent business.