A Las Vegas senior handed over roughly $3 million worth of gold to couriers after a caller convinced him he was talking to the Federal Trade Commission about a problem with his bank account, according to police. Two California men, 26-year-old Rajesh Kumar of Ontario and 20-year-old Deepak Sharma of Fontana, now face charges in connection with the scheme, and both were being held on $1 million bail each as of Tuesday afternoon.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the ordeal began in July 2026 when the senior was contacted by someone who told him there was a problem with one of his bank accounts. He was instructed to call a number, which connected him to a man he believed worked for the FTC. That conversation set the scam in motion, and the Metropolitan Police Department opened its investigation only after the senior himself reached out to detectives.
How the Alleged Scam Unfolded
Per the same report, the senior was convinced to purchase millions of dollars worth of gold from a legitimate gold dealer, then deliver it to couriers in the Las Vegas Valley under the belief it would be kept safe. It was only after he grew suspicious that he might be getting scammed that he contacted police, prompting investigators to step in before more of his money could disappear.
Detectives then arranged a ruse, setting up a scenario where the victim was supposed to hand off more gold to a courier. That plan led officers to Boca Park Plaza at 8750 W. Charleston Blvd., where police arrested Kumar and Sharma at the scene, the report states. Kumar and Sharma are charged with exploiting an older or vulnerable person, theft valued at more than $100,000, and attempted theft valued at more than $100,000, court and law enforcement documents cited by the outlet show. Police did not indicate whether any of the man's gold had been recovered.
A Scam Pattern Investigators Have Flagged Before
The tactics described in this case mirror a warning the FBI issued in an Internet Crime Complaint Center advisory, which cautioned that scammers instruct victims, many of them senior citizens, to liquidate assets into cash or buy gold, silver, or other precious metals, then arrange for couriers to collect the goods. A separate case detailed by Moneywise describes a similar multistate scheme that had already cost victims about $6.5 million, often beginning with a pop-up on the victim's computer before a caller posing as a federal official takes over. That reporting also found a 74-year-old Pennsylvania woman had handed suspects roughly $200,000 in gold after previously giving scammers $59,000 in cash, with additional victims identified in Maryland and Washington state.
Federal data underscore how costly these schemes have become for older Americans. The Federal Trade Commission reported that combined losses among older adults who lost more than $100,000 increased eight-fold, from $55 million in 2020 to $445 million in 2024. The agency has also noted that these scammers often pretend to be the FTC itself, sometimes impersonating real staff, a detail that echoes exactly what the Las Vegas victim says he experienced.
What Happens Next
Kumar and Sharma remained in custody at the Clark County Detention Center as of Tuesday afternoon, each held on $1 million bail. Beyond the charges and the arrests at Boca Park Plaza, police have not released further details about the case, including whether any of the stolen gold has been located.
