A 22-year-old Chicago man was arrested last month during a police sting operation in Illinois after he was found to be involved in a scam that cost a Paw Paw, Ill., resident $40,000. Parth C. Patel was charged with theft by deception and attempted theft by deception following an investigation by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office into alleged fraud.Someone first contacted the victim claiming their Apple account had been “hacked.” The caller then referred the victim to a man posing as an FBI agent, who said he needed money to help catch the alleged “hacker.”The Paw Paw residents agreed to hand over $40,000 in cash. On April 17, an unidentified person collected the money from an address in the village.The scam didn’t end there. The fake FBI agent then contacted the victim again and demanded an additional $28,500.Police were informed of the incident and launched an investigation. Detectives arranged a controlled cash pickup on Monday after the victim was asked to provide additional money. The operation resulted in Patel’s arrest when he came to collect the cash. He was taken into custody and booked into the Lee County Jail.Patel was charged with one count of theft by deception (a Class 2 felony under Illinois law) involving an amount between $10,000 and $100,000, and attempted theft by deception (a Class 3 felony) involving the same amount.Patel appeared before a judge and was released pending further court proceedings under Illinois’ pretrial release law. A hearing in the case is scheduled for May 21.
