74-year-old man loses $600,000 in gold and cash to PayPal impersonation scam via email and phone calls

Summary

A 74-year-old victim lost over $600,000 in gold and cash during a lengthy scam. The scam began when the victim received an email about a fraudulent $499.99 charge on his PayPal account. A scammer posing as “David Wilson” claimed to reimburse the charge but accidentally sent $49,999, then told the victim he was responsible for repaying PayPal. The victim withdrew cash and converted it to Bitcoin, making eight transactions totaling $42,000. The scam continued with demands to purchase gold and more Bitcoin, culminating in the victim buying $596,407 worth of gold, which was picked up by a man later identified as Hirtik Khatri. Khatri, 24, of Lawrence Township, New Jersey, was charged with multiple counts of theft and is awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania.