Nov 2, 2024 By Zach Petroff 4 min read

Two men are accused of impersonating employees from the Walmart fraud department in an attempt to coax over $28,000 from an Upper Tyrone Township man.

Harshil Chandreskumar Patel, 23, and Harsh Prakashbhai Parekh, 23 allegedly told the 75-year-old man that he was under investigation for “illegal activities” and needed to withdraw all the money from his bank accounts. They told the man he’d be reimbursed with “insured money” within 24 hours, police said.

Police said both men were originally from India, but were living in New Jersey on a student visa.

Sergeant Peter Del Gaizo said the scam started out over text message and the two men used intimidation to convince the alleged victim to hand over the cash, a common tactic used by fraudsters who target older adults.

“These scammers will scare these victims into thinking they will be arrested if they don’t (hand over the money). That’s one of the factors that make the scam so believable.” Del Gaizo said during a press conference on Friday.

Trooper Kaylee Barnhart said police were made aware of the alleged scam on Oct. 24, when a teller at Mid Penn Bank in Mount Pleasant alerted authorities after the alleged victim withdrew more than $28,000 from his accounts.

Chris Zampogna, the senior vice president and security office for Mid Penn Bank, said the teller decided to contact authorities after they noticed how stressed the alleged victim seemed as he withdrew the large amount of cash.

“We spend a lot of time working with our frontline staff and train them to pick up on things that may be suspicious,” Zampogna said. “And most importantly, we want our tellers to get to know their customers.”

Both Barnhart and Del Gaizo praised the bank employees for recognizing the alleged scheme and quickly contacting authorities.

“Their proactive work helped solve this scam,” Barnhart said.

According to police, officers monitored communication between the man and the two men and arrested Patel and Parekh when they tried to pick up the cash at the alleged victim’s home. Del Gaizo said police had to move quickly to intervene because of the tendency of alleged scammers to disappear if they believe law enforcement is involved.

“We found that most of the victims say that (the scammers) were so persuasive over the phone and very much pressuring these people into performing these acts in a quick succession…Basically so law enforcement doesn’t get alerted to it and doesn’t get involved.” Del Gaizo said.

Police said they recovered a safe from the vehicle the men were driving, which contained “a bulk amount of U.S. currency,” two cellphones and what authorities said appeared to be a ledger that included names and values.

Both men are charged with felony counts of dealings in the process of unlawful activities, receiving stolen property, theft by deception and attempted theft by deception. They are also both charged with misdemeanor possession of an instrument of a crime. Patel, who allegedly briefly fled from police, was also charged with evading arrest.

Del Gaizo said this type of scam, which targets people above the age of 60 through text messages and social media, is becoming more common around the country, referring to the scheme as “massive.”

“There are multiple groups that are performing these same acts across the country,” he said.

As for what can be done, Del Gaizo said he urges vigilance when receiving correspondence from unfamiliar people.

“I’m to the point where I’m just begging the public to second guess if someone contacts you and they’re asking for money. Second guess everything. Take a pause, think about it for a moment, and contact your family – a son, daughter – and talk this thing through.”

Court documents show both men are held without bond, citing their potential flight risk as one of the reasons. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 6 before District Judge Michael Defino Jr.