An 82-year-old Rockville woman fought back tears as she described her fear of the scammers. She had given them her life savings, which she had earned during four decades working in the federal government.

“They told me they were watching me in my house,” said Lisa, whose last name was withheld by authorities for privacy concerns. “I was so worried that I can’t eat, sleep. I was so afraid to go out. I lost weight, and I started being depressed.”

Federal and Montgomery County authorities on Monday detailed an investigation into fraud schemes that have resulted in more than $6 million in losses, largely to elderly residents across Maryland. Two victims, including the Rockville woman, joined officials at a news conference at Montgomery County police headquarters in Gaithersburg.

“Both of these Americans lost every single penny they sacrificed and saved for their retirement,” said Marc Erme, a captain in the department’s Criminal Investigations Division.

An international scheme

The joint yearslong investigation was conducted by the FBI Baltimore field office, Montgomery County Police Department and Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s office.

The scams have so far victimized nearly two dozen residents in Baltimore, Kent, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, authorities said. The losses — scammers convinced victims to give up their money through bank and wire transfers, cryptocurrency exchanges and gold bars — have totaled $6,257,869.

The fraud has also affected hundreds of victims nationwide, authorities said. They estimate that 660 people have reported that they were victimized by scams traced back to Indian call centers and have lost more than $48 million.

But Jimmy Paul, the special agent in charge of the investigation at the FBI Baltimore field office, cautioned that the total losses and number of victims “are likely much higher” because some have likely not yet informed law enforcement.

Authorities recovered about $15,000 in stolen funds and prevented an additional $3.6 million in fraud by working with potential victims before they transferred their money to scammers, Erme said.

The investigation concluded that these schemes originated from scam call centers in India that have been targeting U.S. citizens since 2022. Indian authorities took down these centers in December and arrested six Indian nationals as part of their investigation, according to authorities.

Ten people have been indicted in Montgomery County in connection with these call center scams, said Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy at the news conference.

“These people were couriers. They were mules that were picking the money up from the individuals, but it’s part of the overall scam,” McCarthy said.

He said the investigation got convictions in seven of the 10 cases for which there were indictments. The remaining three are pending trial.

In August 2024, McCarthy held a press conference about efforts to thwart these scams. The results announced Monday were the latest update from an investigation that began in early 2024. Officials urged residents to remain vigilant about further schemes using similar tactics and to report any suspicious activity.

‘Heartless’

In one case, the gold bar company informed one Montgomery victim that they were being scammed, McCarthy said. But the scammers were still able to convince that victim to part with their money. He called on state lawmakers to place greater responsibility on these companies to report suspicious activity.

Two of the victims from Montgomery County — both of whose last names were withheld for privacy concerns — spoke about their experiences being defrauded.

Sahadev, 69, was identified by authorities as working for “the local school district” who “helps our kids get to school safely.” He detailed, with growing intensity, how he became entangled in a scheme that began with an email from someone claiming to be from the Social Security Administration.

The Germantown resident was told that his Social Security number had been suspended and was being used by criminals for “drug and money laundering,” he said. Sahadev pushed back but was convinced by an image of government identification he was shown.

He was instructed to transfer money to a bank account in California to help the government’s investigation and was told to tell the bank that he was sending money to a friend with health issues. Sahadev said he pushed back once again and was redirected to a person claiming to be a Drug Enforcement Administration agent who sent him an image of an arrest warrant with his name on it. He complied with the request to transfer funds, and then they cut off communication with him.

“I worked hard my whole life to save this money, and they took it all from me,” Sahadev said. “I sobbed.”

Lisa, the 82-year-old Rockville resident who retired from working in the federal government in 2022, told The Banner that the people who defrauded her were “heartless.”

She also received an email from someone claiming to work for the Social Security Administration, instructing her to call a person described as an FBI agent. Lisa, after making that call, sent money from her bank to an account in Hong Kong.

She described how scammers intimidated her into keeping quiet about the scam by using personal information that made her feel under surveillance, including the color of her car. When her son, who also lives in Rockville, recognized that she was being scammed, he helped her report the incident to law enforcement.

Lisa at the news conference described how convincing scammers can be.

“Please be careful, especially those older people like me,” she said. “If you get a call, or email, or text message, for sure you tell someone and talk with your families.”