PROVIDENCE, RI (AP) – A man who played a key role in a computer malware scheme was sentenced to two years in prison, federal prosecutors say.
Manish Kumar, 32, directed phone calls to call centers in India as part of a scheme to trick people into believing that their computers were infected with malware. The callers were persuaded to purchase technical support services that were never provided, according to a statement on Friday from the United States attorney’s office in Rhode Island.
The victims were again targeted by the scammers, officials said. They were informed that they had received excessive refunds and were asked to return the surplus. But since no refunds were actually sent to the victims, they were just disposing of more of their own money, prosecutors said.
Kumar, who was born in India, admitted to providing money routing services for the scheme and making fraudulent charges on 37 credit cards that were not his, prosecutors said.
Kumar, who was arrested in the United States in 2019, pleaded guilty in November to conspiracy to commit electronic fraud, electronic fraud and aggravated identity theft. He was also sentenced to three years probation and paid $ 5,000 in restitution.