Two former executives of a U.S.-based call routing and analytics company have pleaded guilty to federal charges for knowingly enabling India-based call centers to defraud thousands of American victims through elaborate tech-support scam operations spanning nearly six years.
Former CEO Adam Young, 42, of Miami, FL, and former CSO Harrison Gevirtz, 33, of Las Vegas, NV, each pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony in federal court. The charges stem from their operation of a telecommunications services business that provided phone numbers, call routing, call tracking, and call forwarding to customers they knowingly identified as engaged in tech-support fraud. Both are scheduled to be sentenced on June 16, 2026, with penalties to be determined under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, according to the Department of Justice.
Between approximately 2016 and April 2022, Young and Gevirtz’s company served as the critical telecommunications backbone for India-based fraud operations. The schemes used deceptive pop-up messages falsely warning computer users of virus or malware infections, directing victims to call numbers that connected them to fraudulent call centers. Victims were then manipulated into paying hundreds of dollars for unnecessary or entirely fictitious technical support services. In several instances, call center agents remotely accessed victims’ computers to harvest sensitive personal and financial data.
Rather than simply overlooking suspicious activity, court documents reveal that the executives actively aided fraudsters. Despite receiving repeated complaints and law enforcement inquiries, Young and Gevirtz:
- Advised customers on techniques to suppress fraud victim complaints
- Helped customers avoid account termination by telephone providers
- Facilitated the buying and selling of fraudulent calls among fraudulent customers
- Directed employees to promote their services specifically to tech-support scammers
- Operated their own call center in Tunisia from 2016 through April 2022, where some employees participated in tech-support fraud
The case originated from an FBI investigation launched in 2020 that resulted in multiple convictions. Indian nationals Sahil Narang, Chirag Sachdeva, Abrar Anjum, and Manish Kumar were convicted on telemarketing fraud charges for schemes targeting Americans, many elderly or infirm, out of millions of dollars. A former employee of the call routing company, Jagmeet Singh Virk, was also convicted in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
The FBI’s Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Division, Ted E. Docks, emphasized the severity of the crimes, noting that tech-support scams cost Americans $2.1 billion last year, with Rhode Island residents alone reporting losses of at least $5.7 million.
This case underscores the critical need for vigilance in the tech industry. When executives prioritize profit over ethics, they not only betray consumer trust but also facilitate large-scale fraud. It’s imperative for companies to implement robust oversight mechanisms to prevent such abuses and protect vulnerable populations from exploitation.
Source: Cybersecurity News
