Voorhees, NJ, Man Sentenced for Scamming Couple Out of $70,000

A man from Voorhees who scammed an elderly Massachusetts couple out of nearly $70,000 has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to nearly two dozen fraud and larceny-related charges.

35-year-old Rahul Alam was arrested in July 2021, and charged with scamming two senior citizens, both in their 80s, out of $69,400, which was reportedly more than half of their life savings.

According to masslive.com, the couple was contacted by someone claiming to be from Amazon concerning an outstanding $40 bill.

The person on the other end of the call persuaded the victim to provide personal information, including their name, phone number and address, authorities said. Once they had that information, the scammers began to call continuously, claiming the couple owed several thousands of dollars.

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When they agreed to pay, Alam made multiple trips to their house to collect the money. That's when the victims contact the police.

Undercover officers grabbed [Alam] when he showed up [to collect more money]. According to the prosecutor’s office, Alam admitted to working for scammers in Bangladesh, and, at their direction, he would drive around the country to collect money from unsuspecting victims.

Alam eventually pleaded guilty to 21 separate charges.

After his prison term, he must serve three years of probation and pay $68,504 back to the couple.