64-Year-Old Woman Lost $500K in Cash and Gold to Fake US Marshals: Second Scammer Found Guilty

A 64-year-old woman from Truckee, California, converted her cash and retirement savings into gold, then handed it to strangers in a series of car park drop-offs, believing she was helping federal agents keep her money safe. Investigators say the callers were impersonating US Marshals.

On 4 August, a Nevada jury delivered the second conviction in the case. Anil Kumar, 35, of Fresno, was found guilty of exploitation of an elderly person and attempt to obtain money under pretense, the Washoe County District Attorney's Office said. He faces up to 40 years in prison when he is sentenced on 24 September before Judge David Hardy.

His co-defendant, Amit Bhanwala-Singh, 31, of Clovis, was convicted on the same charges in March and sentenced to 35 years in May. Prosecutors said both men worked as couriers, collecting the victim's gold and cash for conspirators higher up the chain. Reno police, who arrested the pair, called the wider operation a large fraud ring that had taken millions from victims across Northern Nevada and California.

The scam began with a fake Amazon text. When the woman rang the number, a man posing as a federal agent told her she was under investigation for money laundering and that her savings were no longer safe. To protect her funds, she had to move everything into gold and surrender it until the 'investigation' was over.

Inside the Fake US Marshals Scam That Cost $500,000

Over several weeks in spring 2025, the woman drained cash, drew down a 401(k) retirement account, bought gold bars in Nevada, and delivered the metal and money in three separate handovers across California. Investigators said the callers used fear and isolation to keep her cooperating.

The scheme fell apart after the third drop. When the callers pressed her to surrender money from her retirement account as well, she reported the matter to Truckee police. Officers traced Bhanwala-Singh's car, and the woman identified him as one of the collectors. Because she had been driving to Reno to buy gold, Truckee police brought in the Reno Police Department and the US Secret Service's Reno office for a joint sting.

The two men were arrested in May 2025 as they moved to collect a gold package that officers had faked, its stated value more than $213,000 (£160,000). In total, the woman lost about $500,000 (£375,000), most of it gold bought with her savings.

'Fraud schemes like this are calculated, predatory, and designed to take advantage of people at their most vulnerable,' District Attorney Chris Hicks said. He said the verdict showed that those who take part in such criminal networks 'will face significant consequences.'

Why Gold Courier Scams Are Costing Older Americans Millions

The case fits a category of fraud that has grown alongside the price of gold. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center logged $219M (£164M) in losses from gold-related scams in 2024, with older adults bearing the brunt. Federal Trade Commission data shows Americans aged 60 and over who lost $100,000 or more to business and government impersonation scams reported $445M (£334M) in 2024, up from $55M (£41M) in 2020.

Gold appeals to these rings because it is portable, hard to trace, and easy to pass to a courier. The FBI's Boston office counted 1,737 courier pickups of cash or gold across the country between 2023 and 2025, with reported losses topping $186M (£140M) and the overwhelming majority of victims aged over 60.

Britain runs on the same script. UK Finance recorded £576.4M ($768M) lost to authorised push payment fraud in 2025, part of £1.28B ($1.71B) stolen overall.

'Safe account' cons, in which a caller posing as a bank or the police talks someone into moving their savings for protection, remain a core tactic. Since October 2024, banks have had to reimburse most victims of such scams.

Investigators repeat the same warning: no genuine agency will tell someone to withdraw savings, buy gold, or hand valuables to a courier for protection.

For the woman in Truckee, two couriers have now been convicted. The people who ran the operation and took the bulk of her money have not been identified.