On April 29, 2025, State Police in Auburn, New York, with assistance from the Auburn Police Department and the Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office, arrested 58-year-old Shabeer Ahmad and 21-year-old Mohammad Zaid Zahi Modan from New Jersey for serving as money mules for a Microsoft tech suppoat scam, where:
- The scammers generate fake virus popups, urging the victim to call their designated “suppoat” line and talk to bhenchods posing as Microsoft, their bank and a federal agent.
- The scammers will falsely claim their victim is under investigation for identity theft and threaten to imprison them if they don’t withdraw all the money from their bank account and convert it into gold bars.
- The scammers will continue extorting additional funds from their victims.
Both individuals were arrested and charged with attempted grand larceny in the 2nd degree. This is a class C felony with a maximum possible sentence of 15 years in prison.